Angel's Breath
by Master Of Anime224
Summary: Discontinued. Check out the reboot!
1. Prologue

AN: So hey guys, after reading some fics, I've decided to delve into the world of Fairy Tail with my very own OC guild story! Everyone, feel free to submit an OC or two, I do need some characters to help me get the story going, and I've always enjoyed the challenge of writing other people's characters! There will be an OC form at the end of the chapter, but for now, here's the prologue!

* * *

Prologue

Onibus Town. A town famous for its theatre, visited frequently by mages due to its unique bar: a bar aimed directly at mages. For the longest time, this town didn't have a guild of its own, instead deferring jobs to the nearest guild, Fairy Tail. However, this has all changed. In the year X787, three years after the disappearance of many of Fairy Tail's core members, one woman had the vision for change. A guild, built in the city itself, to allow those within the city in need of magical aid to receive quick assistance. In this year, the guild was created, built in a lesser populated area, with a large field situated directly behind the guild building, a few trees dotting the landscape. This was the site of Fiore's newest guild – Angel's Breath.

May X790. Onibus Town was prospering, the local economy boosted by an influx of mages. One such man stepped off a train, into the high noon sun of a beautiful spring day. Birds sang their songs as the young man squinted and shielded his eyes, obviously uncomfortable. This young man's name – Ryusuke Yugure. His sandy brown hair fell to his shoulders, his fringe partially hiding one of his sky blue eyes, and a small scar on the right side of his slightly angular face. He was relatively skinny, and stood at 5'11" tall. He wore a dark grey longcoat, the coattails finishing at his knees, covering a loose fitting black shirt and midnight blue jeans. He began walking from the platform into the station itself, his heavy black boots clomping along the tiled floor. Stepping into the sun, he began absentmindedly fondling the katana strapped to his back, his mind clearly wandering. He began fingering the red sash strapping his sword to his back, before giving a hefty sigh and moving onwards. He walked, no clear destination in mind as of yet, searching instead for something to simply occupy his time so he could think. After a short walk, a small, two storey building caught his attention, a sign above the double doors reading, "drinking house." He pushed the door inwards, paying no attention to his surroundings, and promptly took a seat at the bar. Ordering himself a beer, he once again retreated into his mind. After a short period, a smooth, feminine voice penetrated his thoughts. "Visiting mage?"

Ryusuke turned to the voice's owner, finding a lithe, raven-haired woman smiling at him. "Yeah, something like that," he replied, a bored expression adorning his face.

"So what exactly are you doing here?"

"Thinking."

"That's not exactly what I was asking, I meant what are you doing in Onibus?"

Ryusuke turned back to his beer, taking a sip before replying. "I don't know."

"So what, you just blew here on the wind?" A playful smile was on the girl's face, her eyes locked onto Ryusuke.

"Something like that."

The smile turned to a small frown. "You know, if you want to hold up a conversation, you actually have to put some effort in!"

Ryusuke merely sighed. "Perhaps I don't want to hold up a conversation?" He turned to the girl, eyes inquisitive, but otherwise with the same bored expression he had shown throughout the interaction. The girl's frown grew larger, and her tone grew slightly cross.

"That's a rude thing to say! Well, that shows me for trying to be friendly to a stranger!"

Ryusuke's expression remained the same, but his tone grew slightly less bored. "I apologise, I'm just deep in thought."

The girl's smile returned, and she took a long swig of her own drink. "I'm Rhea. Rhea Yokoshima."

"Ryusuke Yugure."

"So if you're a mage, what guild do you belong to?"

"I don't."

Rhea began to frown again. "Have you ever?"

"Nope. I was never interested in it."

"And now? After all, you are in a town with a guild!" She began to beam widely.

Ryusuke looked up at her. "And I care because?"

"It's a great guild! Most of the people are so friendly and welcoming, and it's so easy to make friends! There are plenty of jobs as well, so there's a lot of money to be made!" she beamed enthusiastically, the wide smile never leaving her face.

"What are you supposed to be, the saleswoman?" A tiny, playful smile now adorned Ryusuke's features.

Rhea's grin became even wider. "I guess I am, so whaddya think, Ryu-kun?"

Ryusuke sighed once again. "I think you shouldn't call me Ryu-kun." Rhea giggled slightly. "So, obviously you're a member then."

Rhea grinned widely again, standing up and giving Ryusuke a good look at her. "You're damn right! I'm an S-class mage of Angel's Breath!" As she spoke, Ryusuke took in her appearance. She was 5'8" tall, with a lithe figure. Her bust stuck out quite prominently, and her ebony hair fell a quarter of the way down her back, worn with a fringe covering one of her angular, hazel eyes. She was wearing a white, knee length skirt, mixing well with her tanned skin, and sky blue tank top. She wore a pair of simple sandals on her feet, and now wore a proud smile on her face. In short, she was rather attractive, but that wasn't what Ryusuke was focused on.

"An S-class mage? You don't exactly look all that strong…" Ryusuke commented, draining the last of his drink, and standing up to match her height.

Rhea laughed. "Looks, Ryu-kun, can be incredibly deceiving."

He smirked. "So, Angel's Breath? How far away is it?"

"Why don't I just show you?" Rhea grinned.

* * *

A large, three tiered building came into sight, Ryusuke still showing only indifference. However, a small smile graced his face as he saw the simple wooden sign above the large set of double doors, and the writing upon it: Angel's Breath. As well as this, there was a symbol between the words, of a small halo, flanked by an interconnected pair of feathery wings. A small cloud was seen blowing through the halo in the centre, and Ryusuke instantly envisioned a breath of wind. Rhea turned and beamed at him, a small hint of playfulness evident in her eyes.

"So, you ready to go in? Just remember, once you go in, you'll love it so much you won't want to leave!"

Ryusuke let out a small smile once again. "Do you ever stop grinning?"

The smile didn't falter. "Now, now, Ryu-kun! There's no need to be rude, after all, it looks like you and I are gonna be seeing a lot more of each other!" She stepped forward and pushed open the doors…

* * *

AN: So, there's the prologue of Angel's Breath! I hope you liked it, please remember to drop a review, after all, I need feedback to improve. Yeah, this one was just a long conversation, Ryusuke's character would have to be persuaded into joining any kind of guild at all, otherwise I wouldn't have just written that massive talk. Anyhow, I did say I'm accepting OCs, so have an OC form, and if you can, PM me the characters, I don't want the entire character being public knowledge straight away, especially for things like an ace technique or an interesting twist in the history!

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Appearance: Give me their height, body type etc. Hair colour, eye colour, eye shape, what their face looks like, any marks, eg scars or tattoos, and the location of their guild marks.

Personality:

Regular Attire: The clothes they wear most of the time

Formal Attire: Clothes for formal occasions

Swimwear:

Sleepwear:

Magic: Type of magic, how it works etc

Notable techniques: Please include details of the techniques, for example, how it works, and what it does, how it looks when the attack is used etc, it makes it a lot easier to write fight sequences. Please don't give your character all hax attacks, a couple of ace attacks is okay, but don't be ridiculous about it.

Weapons/Equipment:

History: Please include any and all points that may be important, including stuff that could make an interesting plot point later on. In fact, especially that stuff.

Other: Anything that you think I might have missed and you feel needs inclusion in the profile.

Okay, and just a quick note, I'm only taking 2-3 S-class mages, and only 20-25 OCs. Also, please, no Dragon Slayers unless it's absolutely essential to the character. Dragon Slayers have been done to death, and I'll only take 1 or 2, unless I really like the character. Adios for now, I have exams for the next few weeks, but I should get the next chapter up within the next couple of weeks. Also, I'd like to take a moment to pay written respects to Stephen Sutton, that kid is an inspiration.


	2. The Angel's Breath Guild

AN: Hey guys! After reading an omake of Dreadburner94's story, Undine's Cove (which you should all totally go read, it's awesome!), based on an OC he gave me, I felt the need to write this chapter. Thanks to everyone who has sent in OCs so far, and don't worry if your OC doesn't show up in this chapter, they'll all be showing up pretty soon. I still have room for a few more OCs, and another S-class mage if you want to drop me a PM. Anyway, I've rambled on enough, so I'll just thank Lightningpanda, MyDearWatson, SaiyaStyles, corymerlin, lexlovesya and Dreadburner94 for reviewing the prologue, Everyone who favourited and followed, and get on with the first actual chapter of this story.

* * *

Credits (In order of appearance):

Ryusuke Yugure – Master of Anime224

Rhea Yokoshima – Master of Anime224

Styles Kaizu – SaiyaStyles

Kimi Kaizu – SaiyaStyles

Rosa Caliburn – Master of Anime 224

Celeste Arturia – Dreadburner94

Alain Baz Sedgwick – Cat the Alien

Wisteria Eneta Solari – StitchedSanity

* * *

The Angel Breath Guild

"Did I not ask you to stop calling me Ryu-kun?" Ryusuke sighed, massaging his forehead, before taking in the inward appearance of the guild hall. The first floor was very spacious, and the right hand side full of tables of different sizes, all surrounded by chairs, some of which were occupied by various people. Ryusuke noticed a silver haired boy sat in the corner, with a wolf lying on the floor beside him, glance towards the door. He ignored the occurrence, returning to studying his surroundings. All the tables were simple wood, oak at a guess, remaining the natural colour of the wood, with the chairs being of the same material, and clearly designed ergonomically, with slightly tilted backs. There was a square bar situated dead centre in the room, a pillar set in the middle of the bar area, full of cupboards and shelving, with not a square inch uncovered by bottles or packages. There was a slightly tanned, raven haired girl with a purple bang, standing at around 5'4", purple lipstick accentuating her high cheekbones, wearing black and purple headphones with a purple choker around her neck at the bar, wiping down glasses with a washcloth. The bar occupied both sides of the room, half on each side, looking slightly lower on the right due to a lack of carpet, that side of the room instead being simple hardwood flooring. A lush white carpet adorned the floor on the left side of the room, where tan leather couches were arranged with three and two-seaters facing each other in 6 pairs, a low glass coffee table in-between each pair. On the left wall, there were two wooden noticeboards, spaced seven feet apart, with small pillar tables in front of them, aimed to be in the centre of the wall. These were the request boards, one for regular jobs, and one for S-class jobs. Opposite to the front doors, there was a comparatively small, simple door leading out to the field. Ryusuke turned to Rhea, still with a bored expression on his face. "So, where's the master?"

Rhea grinned. "So, you want to join then?"

"You've piqued my interest."

Rhea shouted over to the bar, "hey Kimi! D'you know where the master is?"

The girl at the bar turned her attention away from the glass she was wiping, and smiled widely. "Oh, hey Rhea! Yeah, she's in the office! Why do you need her?"

Rhea gestured towards Ryusuke. "Ryu-kun here wants to join the guild! Ain't that great?!"

The girl waved, her cheerful smile dropping somewhat. "Oh, hello. I'm Kimi Kaizu."

"Ryusuke Yugure," he grunted, before turning towards Rhea, "so where's this office?"

Rhea didn't answer, instead leading Ryusuke towards a door on the right hand wall of the room, close to the corner. Walking past, Ryusuke glanced to his left and saw the silver haired boy studying him closely. He gave a flat look before walking through the door Rhea had opened. Having found himself in a spacious hallway, a set of stairs heading upwards directly to his left, with two elevators in front of him, and a door to his right, Ryusuke waited to allow Rhea past him, at which point she knocked on the door.

"Come in," a voice called from within. Rhea opened the door, entering the room with a spring in her step, gesturing Ryusuke into the room. The walls were painted the same white as the interior of the guild hall, with several paintings and photographs adorning the walls, a large window on the left hand wall letting sunlight into the room. A clock was on the wall directly behind him. His eyes fell upon a middle aged woman sitting at a desk, her back to the far wall. Her wavy auburn hair fell down to her average sized breasts, the fringe clipped back, giving a clear view of her piercing green eyes, covered only by a pair of rectangular, thin-framed glasses. Her face was slightly lined, giving her a tired look, but her kind smile was enough to offset the aging effect, meaning that she seemed to be glowing. She looked up at the two, still smiling at them, and gave Ryusuke an inquisitive look. "So, who exactly are you, young man?"

"Ryusuke Yugure."

"And what is your business here?" she asked with a kind tone, still smiling.

At this point, Rhea interjected. "Ryu-kun want to join the guild!" she beamed.

"Well, Ryusuke, I'm Rosa Caliburn, and I'm the master of this humble guild. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is your magic?" The smile never left her face as she talked.

The indifferent expression finally left Ryusuke's face as he smirked slightly. "I use Twilight magic, and I'm pretty good with my sword as well." To punctuate his point, he created a ball of magical energy within the palm of his right hand, the energy a dark purple infused with a blinding white, like the light of the sun. The colours swirled within the small ball, mingling and intertwining in a beautiful display. Closing his palm, Ryusuke's face dropped back to its bored expression, the magnificent ball of magic blinking out of existence. Rosa continued smiling at him, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Well, congratulations, Ryusuke, you are now the newest member of the Angel's Breath guild. If you would like, there is limited dormitory space on the top floor, for a small fee of three thousand Jewels a month."

"No thanks, I prefer to stay on my own," he replied.

"Well, your living arrangements are entirely your choice, I just felt that I had to extend the offer, after all, I have tried to make this guild as hospitable as possible." Rosa said, standing up from her chair, revealing herself to stand at 5'6", wearing a sky blue, short sleeved top, with a pale, dusted pink shawl over her shoulders. She wore a long, forest green shirt, and a pair of straw sandals with no socks. She had a purple bangle on her left wrist, and appeared to hold herself proudly. "Well, the only thing to do now is ask where you would like your guild mark, and in what colour?"

Ryusuke swept the hair on his left side backwards, and tilted his head to the right to better expose his neck. He pointed to a spot slightly towards the back of his neck on the left side. "Right here, please, in midnight blue."

* * *

Celeste Arturia was bored. She was a thin, yet fit girl, standing at 5'6" with a relatively flat chest and a thin waist. Her sharp, amber eyes exuded confidence, and a pointed nose was above a cocky smirk, gradually degrading into a frown. She kept her blonde hair, which would otherwise fall to her shoulders, in a messy ponytail with a red headband, her bangs framing her face, getting slightly into her eyes and covering her forehead completely. Celeste wore a black tube top with gold trim, a short pair of brown denim shorts, a black belt with a gold buckle, and a pair of black ankle boots. She also had a gold pendant, the shape of a two-handed broadsword around her neck, and it was unseen, but her red guild mark had a place to the left of her navel. The cocky smirk returned to her face as she saw Rhea exit the back door of the guild hall, out into the field behind it. The field itself was around half an acre in area, with several trees dotting the landscape at inconsistent intervals, providing an excellent training ground. The grass was cropped short, and there were several flowerbeds around the edges, full of roses, tulips, dandelions and other assorted blooms. Celeste began running towards the door, only at this point noticing a tall, brown haired boy in a dark grey longcoat follow after Rhea, a bored expression on his face. "Rhea!" Celeste shouted, finally coming to a stop at the girl's location, giving a questioning glance to the boy before turning her attention back to Rhea. "Did you like my surprise?" Celeste grinned.

Rhea simply gave a devious smile, before replying, "Oh, I enjoyed it very much. I think you're slipping, though; a bucket of flour on the door is a bit too obvious, don't you think?"

"Eh, sometimes simplicity is best. By the way, who's this guy?" She gestured towards Ryusuke.

"Oh, this is Ryusuke Yugure, the newest member of the guild. He's a bit conservative, though," she brought a finger to her lip and looked as if she was thinking. "I think he might be scared of people."

Ryusuke sighed before volunteering himself to the conversation. "I am not scared of people, and I can speak for myself, thank you."

Celeste's smirk turned into a frown. "You're far too serious! You need to loosen up and have fun with life!"

"As much as I appreciate the advice, I don't care."

"You're starting to annoy me, idiot," Celeste growled.

"Oh, look, my apathy level just increased."

"If you're not careful, I'm gonna pummel you into the ground!"

At this, Rhea interjected, a cunning smile on her face. "Y'know, Celeste, from what I can tell, Ryusuke's pretty strong, so you might have some trouble with that."

The cocky smirk returned to Celeste's face. "Oh, really? Well, Ryusuke, what do you say we have some fun?!" She held out her right hand as a large, two-handed broadsword, the same shape as her pendant, the handle wrapped in red cloth with a red gem set into the hilt, and the guard shaped like wings, acting as a hand guard, with strange runes on the blade, appeared in it. "Tyrhung!" She swung at Ryusuke, one handed, the sharp edge aimed straight for his neck. In a flash, Ryusuke had drawn out his katana, blocking Celeste's wild swing with the flat side of his blade. Celeste jumped backwards, before holding her sword as if it were a rifle. "Gunblade Magic: Load!" Her sword gained a trigger on the handle, and thirty green ticks appeared along the blade. She ran towards Ryusuke, and thrusting her sword forward, shouted, "Gundblade Magic: Scatter Shot!" Seven small projectiles erupted from the blade in a golden colour, shooting towards Ryusuke. He simply jumped to the side, letting the projectiles sail past him. He noticed that there were only twenty-three ticks left on Tyrhung, but had no time to consider this before Celeste held out her blade. "Gunblade Magic: Artillery Strike!" Celeste pulled the trigger on her sword's handle, and a large ball of golden magic sailed towards Ryusuke at high speed. Rather than dodge, he simply held out his hand and said calmly, "Twilight Guard." A large wall of purple and golden magic, the colours swirling and mingling together, appeared in front of him. Celeste's projectile impacted with the wall and caused a large explosion, shattering Ryusuke's guard and sending him flying, a small burn mark on his face, and a rip in his right coattail.

"Ha! I think you might have misjudged this guy, Rhea, he doesn't seem all too strong after all!" Celeste's smirk had become a grin. "You know, I'd be enjoying this more if you'd actually fight back! Let's see how you like this! Gunblade Magic: Full Salvo!" Eighteen golden projectiles were shot from Tyrhung as Celeste pulled the trigger. They began to converge upon Ryusuke, and he let out a smirk.

"Shadow Sneak." He seemed to disappear for a moment, reappearing behind Celeste, and placing his blade at her throat. "I've been keeping count of how many of those charges you used, given that they seem to indicate how many more shots you can use. And you're out." His smirk grew wider as he saw the Full Salvo projectiles turn around, and appear to home in on his location, shooting toward him and Celeste. "So, Celeste, who blinks first?" A bead of sweat rolled down Celeste's neck, but the wide grin on her face betrayed only enjoyment.

"I take it back. This is awesome!" She turned round and kicked Ryusuke in the gut, sending him sprawling backwards. He landed flat on his back, and the projectiles from Celeste's technique converged upon his location, causing a large explosion. Celeste grinned widely, Tyrhung still held ready. "Come on, I know that didn't finish you!" As the smoke cleared, Celeste's eyes widened slightly as she saw only empty space and a burnt patch of grass where Ryusuke should have been. "Did I kill him?"

Celeste blanched as she heard a voice from directly behind her. "Twilight Spark." A conical, purple and gold attack erupted from the palm of Ryusuke's left palm, which pointed at Celeste's back, getting exponentially wider as it travelled. It didn't travel far, however, before it met resistance, tearing into the back of Celeste's tube top, and burning her back, sending her flying.

Rhea grinned as she saw this. "I love causing chaos," she said to herself, before shouting to Celeste, "so, do you like my surprise?!"

Celeste landed into a back handspring, coming back onto a three-point landing, before flashing Rhea a toothy grin. "I love it!" She rushed at Ryusuke again, holding her sword close to her chest. "Gunblade Magic: Over-"

She was cut off as Ryusuke again appeared behind her, a flash of golden light at his feet. "Twilight Cutter," he stated, a coating of twilight magic surrounding his blade, he slashed at Celeste's right flank, turning the attack into a concussive action, sending Celeste flying into a tree. She was down for a full ten seconds before Ryusuke turned back to Rhea. "Why did you incite that?"

Rhea gave a trademark devious smile, before answering simply, "fun."

"It may have been fun for you, but that hurt. And more importantly, she ripped my coat. An unforgivable crime."

"You really care that much?" Rhea simply grinned at him, "you know there's a clothing repair shop just down the street, right?"

"There's no need, I have eight more, but it's the principle of the matter."

Rhea giggled. "So, should I show you the library upstairs? Or maybe you'd like to see the infirmary, that does seem like a pretty bad burn right there."

"I'll go and check it out myself, I'd prefer to be alone." He effectively ended the conversation by walking away, back into the guild hall. Celeste sidled up alongside Rhea, looking dazed and beaten up, rubbing her forehead.

"What the hell just happened?"

Rhea gave a good-natured laugh at her friend, before replying, "you just got your ass kicked, that's what!"

Celeste growled before her face returned to its usual cocky smirk. "He might have won round one, but I'm gonna get that bastard back! From this moment forward," she raised her voice to a level at which it could be heard in the guild hall, and probably halfway across town. "Ryusuke Yugure, you are my rival! And mark my words, I'm gonna get you!"

* * *

Inside the guild hall, sat in a corner, next to the door leading to the office and upstairs area, a young, silver haired boy sat with a wolf lying on the floor next to him. This 19-year-old was called Styles Kaizu, and he, like everyone else in the guild hall, heard Celeste's declaration. "What's wrong with humans?" he sighed, absentmindedly scratching the wolf behind the ears. Styles stood at 5'10" tall, with long, shaggy silver hair, coming down to a level with his chin, with one bang hanging over his left eye. His eyes were silver and emotionless, his ears pointed and his canines sharp. His guild mark was located in black on the right side of his neck, and as slash-like scar adorned his left cheek. He had an athletic build, and a silver full moon tattoo on his right arm. He wore a black hooded jacket, had a black bandana over his mouth, and a pair of black wireless headphones around his neck. He had a black t-shirt on his torso, a pair of white skinny jeans, black slip-on vans and a red amulet around his neck. His ears had silver studs in them, his hands had black fingerless gloves, and a backpack was on the floor next to him and the wolf. This wolf was named Nina, and was two times the size of an average German Shepherd, with pitch-black fur and yellow eyes. Currently, she was asleep. Styles turned his attention to the figure seemingly walking straight towards him, giving a flat stare as he approached. Ryusuke turned towards the door, hoping to check out the library. He stopped, level with Styles, and turned to face the boy.

"Is there a reason you appear to be staring at me?" Ryusuke asked, standard bored look to his face.

"I'm observing." Styles replied.

"Why?"

"Because you're a strange human."

"You say that as if it's supposed to make some kind of logical sense."

"It does. I'm impressed by how you were able to rile up that loud-mouthed idiot. And impressing me isn't easy. I'm Styles Kaizu."

"Whatever. She's just short-tempered. And Ryusuke Yugure."

"You seem tainted, even if it is only a little bit."

"I'm going to walk away now. Goodbye."

Styles sighed again. "What's wrong with humans?"

* * *

"Weirdo," Ryusuke muttered, climbing up the stairs. He reached the top, and found an open doorway to the left of a closed door, and, peeking through the open doorway, found a room lined with high bookcases, all full of books. There were signs above each bookcase, giving the classification and genre of the books in that case. There were couches, of the same design as the ones downstairs, arranged in a square pattern around the room, with four sets of seating in the cosy room, each set consisting of a corner unit, a three-seater and two-seater. He walked over to a bookcase with a sign above it reading 'fiction – fantasy', took a book, and sat down with his back to a window. He took a look around, and saw a couple of pictures hanging on empty wall space, and the wall that was showing was painted white, the same as the rest of the guild hall. "What is with all the white in this place?" he muttered under his breath, before noticing a man walking towards him, standing at 6'2" with a lean, fit build and broad shoulders. His face was slightly wrinkled, with an aquiline nose and strong jaw, with high cheekbones. He was dark skinned, and looked slightly rugged, with golden eyes, and close-cropped brown hair matching his rugged eyebrows. His face was accentuated with a five-o' clock shadow with a connecting moustache, however, he had a burn mark on his left cheek. Although not visible at this point in time, his guild mark was printed on his right pectoral muscle in navy blue. He wore a white, button down shirt with grey pinstripes, left untucked, with the top two buttons left undone. His maroon slim-cut pants were held up by a black leather belt with a silver buckle, and dark brown, casual ankle boots were on his feet. A black blazer with white pinstripes covered his shirt, and his head was adorned with a tilted grey fedora, and he had a cigarette hanging from his mouth. He sat across from Ryusuke, taking a long drag of his cigarette before speaking.

"Hey there," he spoke in a gruff, heavily accented voice, "I don't think I've seen you around here before, mon ami."

"That's because you haven't," Ryusuke sighed, flipping a page in his book.

"The names Alain Baz Sedgwick, but you can call me Baz for short," he said, a suave smile on his face.

"Ryusuke Yugure."

"So, you new here?"

"Take a guess," Ryusuke sighed.

"Whoa, there, friend, no need to get so snippy!" He took another long drag of his cigarette.

Ryusuke raised an eyebrow. "Are you allowed to smoke in here?"

Baz laughed. "Ha! What the master doesn't know won't hurt her, mon ami. After all, smoking, food, women, a good scotch; they're all my raison d'etre!"

"Seems like a shallow existence."

"Heh, I just try to have fun, if you think that's shallow, then your opinion is your choice." He stubbed out his cigarette in a pocket ashtray he produced, grabbing his packet and pulling out a new cigarette, lighting it with a zippo lighter. He held the packet out to Ryusuke. "Want one?"

"Sure," he replied, taking the offered cigarette, putting it in his mouth and accepting the offered flame. He took a long draw before sighing. "It's been a long time since I've enjoyed one of these."

"I only smoke the best," Baz smiled.

A dirty-blonde girl, as of yet unnoticed by the two males, sniffed the air and cringed. One person smoking, that she could stand. But two people polluting the otherwise clean air of the library, her sanctuary? Unacceptable. This girl was Wisteria Eneta Solari, an S-class mage, and arguably one of the most powerful in the guild. She was a reserved girl, often retreating to the library for peace and quiet. The 19 year old was stunningly beautiful, her dirty blonde hair worn loose, and extending all the way down to her ankles. She wore a black beanie, and had black headphones over her ears, currently playing a song called The Guillotine. She had striking purple eyes, with her bangs covering the left one. Standing at 5'11", Wisteria was surprisingly tall, and had a skinny but curvy figure. She had a black and white striped, long sleeved top on her upper body, her legs adorned with a pair of ripped jeans and dark red rain boots. She also wore a pair of yin-yang earrings, and a black, white and purple braided bracelet. "Would you two please stop polluting the air in here?"

Baz gave a disarming, cool smile to the girl. "Hey, calm down Wisteria, nothing goes better with fine literature than a smoke and a tumbler of fine scotch!"

Ryusuke gave a sidewards glance and said, "can I get in on that scotch?"

"Why, of course, mon ami! Let me get the bottle from downstairs!"

Wisteria watched Baz leave, before turning to Ryusuke. "Who the hell are you?"

"My, aren't you cheery?" Ryusuke deadpanned.

"You didn't answer my question," she growled.

"Ryusuke Yugure. Twilight mage, disliker of too much conversation, and the massive amount of veritable chatterboxes there seems to be in this guild is beginning to irritate me."

Wisteria turned away again. "Twilight magic? That's really rare."

"Thank you for this new information. I'll be sure to consider it next time I'm not caring," Ryusuke replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Wisteria Eneta Solari. Pleased to meet you."

"Whatever, I'm leaving now." Ryusuke put his book down on the table before walking out of the room, flicking his cigarette out of the open window as he did so.

* * *

Baz approached the bar, cigarette hanging from his mouth. "Well hey there, Kimi dear, since you're already behind the bar, so long as it's not too much trouble, would you mind handing me that fine bottle of 40-year scotch on the shelf there?"

Kimi turned and smiled at Baz. "Oh, hey Baz! Of course, I'll grab it for you now." She grabbed the bottle of scotch Baz had pointed at, as well as two glasses, and placed them down on the bar.

"Damn, the glasses! I always forget about those… Many thanks, ma ami."

Ryusuke took a seat next to where Baz was standing and threw some Jewels in front of the man. "There, that should cover it."

Baz looked bemused at this, but pocketed the money nonetheless. "And here I thought you were upstairs. What happened, mon ami, Wisteria run you out of town?"

"No, I'm trying to escape conversation, and it isn't working." He poured himself a glass from the scotch bottle, and took a swig. "I was half expecting you to refuse that money, you know."

Baz chuckled. "Nah, a man such as yourself, you wouldn't have taken that. Still, I wouldn't get any ideas in your head, I'm the biggest man around here, and I'd like to challenge you to prove otherwise!"

"Fascinating," Ryusuke remarked in mock surprise.

"What is?"

"I didn't think I could care less, but it appears I've exceeded my own expectations."

Baz gave a belly laugh this time. "Ah, you're funny, kid. I think you'll fit in just fine here."

Ryusuke sighed. "I'm not a kid."

"Kid, I'm 45, you're a kid to me."

Ryusuke was pulled from the conversation by a cocky, decidedly feminine voice. "Ryusuke!" He turned, to find Celeste rushing towards him, Tyrhung in hand, bellowing a fierce war cry.

"Celeste, I am not interested in being your rival, especially if it means you're going to shout loud enough to cause avalanches five hundred miles away." Ryusuke's eyes were slightly drooped, and he still looked incredibly bored, but there was a hint of slight annoyance in his eyes.

Celeste gave a cocky grin, before remarking, "Y'know, I might not be able to beat you with magic, but I'm your better at swordplay!"

"Keep dreaming, little girl."

Celeste growled, and swung Tyrhung aggressively at Ryusuke's head. He ducked under the swing, his dodge having the undesirable effect of Tyrhung colliding with the bottle of scotch, shattering the glass and spilling Scotch everywhere. Baz suddenly looked incredibly morose, and dropped to his knees.

"No! Ah, amour, I hardly knew ye; my only wish… to have been able to experience more of you."

Ryusuke sweatdropped. "Um… I'll buy you a new one, okay?"

Baz's face lit up, but Celeste couldn't care less, and charged the now standing Ryusuke. "I am not a little girl!" She swung Tyrhung, this time rewarded with the familiar clang of steel on steel, as she tried to push Ryusuke into the bar. He pushed off, Manoeuvring around Celeste. She attacked again, giving Ryusuke the opportunity to riposte into a guarded position, allowing him to block Celeste's next strike. Celeste gave a quick glance over to the door leading upstairs, and gave her usual cocky grin, before being punished for her lapse in concentration by Ryusuke striking across her face.

"You're not winning this one, I don't care how strong you think you are!"

Ryusuke merely sighed, feeling fatigued from performing this action so much that day. "You're obviously not taking me seriously, so you're not going to win."

"Ha! Of course I'm taking you seriously, after all, you're so much fun!" Contrary to her words, Celeste always had a hard time taking fights seriously. However, she was enjoying the fight, and, unknown to Ryusuke, she had a master plan that didn't involve winning. She slowly manoeuvred herself backwards towards the corner of the room Styles currently occupied, a dead look in his eyes as he watched Celeste attempt to taunt Ryusuke, with an expression on his face that could be close to disgust.

"What's wrong with humans?" Styles sighed, before grabbing his backpack. "Come on, Nina, let's go before you get a destroyed table and a lump of idiot on top of you." He walked away, Nina in tow.

"Come on, you aren't doing anything to me! What happened to you being so strong, hmm? I could push forward and beat you right now!"

Ryusuke said nothing and swung lazily. Celeste dodged it, stabbing at his face. Riposting, he let loose on a massive horizontal slash, which was, not unexpectedly, dodged. What was unexpected, however, was the tall girl with insanely long blonde hair stood behind Celeste… and Ryusuke's sword slicing through half of her hair, cutting one half of it to be level with her backside.

Celeste's cocky grin radiated smugness. "See ya!" she whispered, running away as quickly as she could. Meanwhile, Wisteria turned, her eyes glowing white, looking positively furious. Ryusuke, though slightly fearful, didn't show it. He'd been outsmarted, given acute tunnel vision by the irritating pest that was Celeste, and made a mistake – exactly what Celeste had planned. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing his fear.

"Ah, Wisteria, I apologise. Entirely my fault, I wasn't watching where I was cutting, I was just trying to stop Celeste from cutting me to pieces, I don't think she cares if I fight back or not, she just wants to win at this point. Anyway, I was acting proactively, and I wasn't really paying enough attention. Although, If it's any consolation, at least now there's no danger of you stepping on your hair! And, to be honest, I think it would look better a little shorter." Ryusuke, keeping his calm face, observed Wisteria's face for any signs of change. He was good at reading people, perceptive and intelligent, and he knew the times he couldn't talk his way out of a situation. This was not one of them. He didn't want a fight, especially with Wisteria, she seemed a little unstable, and, strong though he was, he was unsure of whether he could take her. Thankfully she turned away, and began walking menacingly towards Celeste.

"Learn to pay more attention to your surroundings," came the cold command. Ryusuke sighed in relief, contemplating returning to his hotel and ending this chore of a day. Before that, entertainment. He watched as Celeste was punched into a wall, groaning as her head impacted the hard plasterboard. Wisteria promptly walked out of the front doors, and, unbeknownst to anyone, she had a small smile on her face.

"How the hell did you do that?" Celeste moaned, eliciting a smirk from Ryusuke as he watched her unsuccessfully try to pick herself out of the wall.

* * *

Rosa stepped into the guild hall at the same time Rhea walked into the front door, a devious smile not once leaving her face. Rosa, meanwhile, was mystified. She directed her question at Ryusuke, the nearest guild member. "What exactly happened here?" She gestured at several upturned tables, and Celeste being pried out of the wall by a laughing Rhea.

"Oh, Master. Well, if I were to say Celeste…" Ryusuke began with a questioning inflection.

Rosa sighed and massaged her forehead, a small vein showing on it. "That would explain it all." The guild master walked away, as Rhea sidled up to Ryusuke, devious smile still upon her face.

"What are you up to, Rhea?" he questioned.

"Oh, nothing," she replied, trying and failing to look innocent. "My, my, Ryu-kun, seems like you've made quite the mess in here, you and Celeste. What happened?"

Ryusuke walked away, replying as he did so, "your friend is an idiot."

Rhea watched him leave the guild hall, smile still upon her face. She turned to a now recovered Celeste, her smirk restored. "So, Rhea, did you do it?"

"Piece of cake. Now for the matter of payment?"

Celeste put her hand on her heart, and recited, "I, Celeste Arturia, do swear not to enact any pranks or practical jokes, no matter how small, upon you, Rhea Yokoshima, for the next thirty days, on pain of not only being sold out to Ryusuke, but also having your foot up my ass. God, this is gonna be hard, this better piss him off!"

Rhea chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm sure his reaction will be satisfactory."

* * *

Ryusuke walked through the front door of his hotel room, leading into a small foyer with a small pillar table. He dropped the keys on it, before glancing suspiciously at the door leading into the room itself. He could have sworn he left it closed. Chalking it up to the actions of hotel cleaners, he opened the door, walking through it cautiously. The face full of flour he received, covering his coat and hair in the ingredient, caused an angry cough. For the first time in a long time, a growl managed to escape from Ryusuke's throat. "Rhea, Celeste, I know this was you, and tomorrow, you die," he swore, skulking into the bathroom for a shower.

* * *

Celeste was pleased with her day. It had hit a few snags, yes, but she knew that she had succeeded in her prank, and Ryusuke would be pissed off. Well, that's what happens when you mess with Celeste Arturia! A smug look on her face, she opened her door, intending to get a good night's sleep, so she could be ready to laugh at Ryusuke's rage the next day. Imagining him attacking her in a rage, only to be put down and forced to grovel, Celeste chuckled, her slight laugh overshadowing the noise of a bucket falling from the top of the door, meaning that she didn't realise she was about to be covered with flour until she was. She growled, visibly shaking with rage. "Rhea…" her voice suddenly gained several decibels, "I'm gonna freakin' get you for this!"

* * *

AN: Good? Bad? Average? Tell me your thoughts, guys, I can't improve without feedback, after all. I'm gonna introduce the rest of the OCs in the next couple of chapters, and then I'll get onto some missions, and proper combat, not just Celeste being… well, Celeste. Oh, and I've also decided that Celeste is my new spirit animal, she is wonderful to write, even if it is only for a brief appearance. Anyway, for all the OCs that have turned up, I hope I've got their personalities right! Anywho, it's like 4 in the morning for me and I have to be up at 9, so I'll be signing off now.


	3. Sports, Destruction and Brawls

AN: Hey guys! I'm getting these up pretty quickly, huh? I'm really getting into the flow of this story, and I have a lot of plot ideas, especially with all these awesome characters you guys have given me! Unfortunately, I have what I consider to be a full quota, so I'm no longer taking OCs, but hey, you can still enjoy the story! If your OC hasn't been introduced yet, don't worry about it, they'll turn up soon.

Thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter: Lexlovesya, Dreadburner94, FrozenBlast13, M-anonymous, LightandDarkHeart, Lightningpanda, MyDearWatson and SaiyaStyles.

And hey, I was thinking, you get all these guidebooks telling you stuff that wasn't in the actual story, so I'm occasionally gonna do some liner notes.

Here goes: Rhea was originally some random woman who no-one would ever see again, literally just intended to tell Ryusuke about the guild. Then as I wrote her a huge personality sparked into life and I just couldn't abandon her as a character. She only exists because my mind wanders when I write. Also, Ryusuke speaks in a Northern English accent, kinda Lancastrian. He sounds a bit like Christopher Eccleston, only without all the gravitas.

Anyhow, onto chapter 2!

(Oh, and I don't own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima.)

* * *

Credits (In order of appearance):

Florence Lancaster – Queen JJ

Anna Sedgwick – Cat the Alien

Aster Eistir – MyDearWatson

Eiko Haverj – Lightningpanda

Lucina Cypher – ManhattanTheory

Dean Arc – PrinceofTheMatrix88

* * *

Sports, destruction and brawls

The intense midday sun was beating down on her, and she let out a sigh. Florence Lancaster was contented with sitting in a lawn chair out the back of the guild hall, enjoying the sunlight. This 17 year old stood at 5'6", and had naturally curly black hair cascading freely to her shoulders. It was parted to the right, and incredibly thick, giving off the slight appearance of a wild mane. Her eyes were almond shaped and a beautiful shade of hazel - appearing to be golden with flecks of brown and green intermingling with the dominant colour. Her complexion was brown and her figure athletic, however, she was curvy around the hip and waist area, with a B-cup chest. She had a heart shaped face, with slightly pouty, seemingly full lips. She was wearing an elbow length, crop white shirt over a brown sleeveless vest, dark blue shorts, a pair of grey OTK socks underneath a pair of brown, low-heeled boots, and had a feather earring in her right ear. Her sunbathing session was interrupted, however, when she heard a calm, disinterested voice call at something she couldn't see.

"Rhea, get back here so I can kill you." Ryusuke stood at the door, his face covered in flour, a scowl on his face. Rhea, meanwhile, was retreating leisurely towards Florence, laughing her ass off.

"Oh my god… that was freakin' hilarious! I can't believe you fell for the same trick twice, Ryu-kun! You're so gullible!"

Ryusuke sighed, which was quickly becoming a reflex action for him, and his face resumed its usual bored expression. "I didn't fall for anything, Rhea; you said hello, I turned around and you threw a bag of flour at my face."

Rhea laughed even harder. "I know! That was great! Oh, god, your face!"

"Yes, it is covered in flour. Laugh now, I shall take my revenge."

At this point, Florence made her presence known. "Rhea, what's going on?"

Rhea still couldn't control her laughter, so Ryusuke answered for her. "Apparently, Rhea finds it funny to give my face an impromptu acquaintanceship with flour."

At this, Rhea simply collapsed on the floor, unable to support herself any longer. Ryusuke sighed. Florence picked up a washcloth from the small table beside her, of which there were similar sets in a line of chairs, positioned in-between six chairs that sat on a small paved area, and threw it at Ryusuke. "Here you go, clean yourself up. Might I ask your name?" She favoured him with a small smile.

"Ryusuke Yugure. You?"

Florence feigned surprise. "My, you haven't heard of me? My name is Florence Lancaster, and I am the Lightning Queen!"

Ryusuke finished wiping his face, it now having returned to actually being visible rather than covered in white. "Wonderful," he deadpanned, before chucking the washcloth back to Florence, "well, Your Highness, thanks for the help."

Florence smiled again. "It's no problem, but just remember who you're addressing next time!"

Ryusuke sighed, before sticking his right elbow into the empty space behind him. Rhea suddenly became visible to him and Florence, her nose bloodied, and the prone figure of her that had been on the floor having disappeared from view. "Either you're not paying attention, or your illusion magic is really bad. Who laughs that much?"

"You win this round, Yugure," Rhea smiled, "but I think I'm still winning the game." She wandered back into the guild hall, passing two figures as she did so. Baz and his daughter Anna stepped outside.

Baz's daughter, Anna Sedgwick, was a twenty-three year old, doe-eyed beauty. She stood level with Ryusuke at 5'11", with a boyish figure, flat chest and slender build. She had inherited her father's golden eyes and high cheekbones, but also had long eyelashes, and was currently wearing a winsome smile. Her jawline was shaped like an inverse pentagon and attached to a slender neck. Her hair, cut in a medium pixie cut, was pale blonde with coral pink highlights; this was clearly a dye-job, however, as it was in direct contrast to her brown eyebrows. Across the fingers of her left hand, in pale blue, was her guild mark. Currently, she was wearing a mint blue shift dress with long sleeves and a white baby-fall collar, along with black low-heeled boots with laces and peacock feather earrings.

"Ryusuke, why did you do that to Rhea?" she said, in a gentle, compassionate tone.

"Retribution." Ryusuke replied simply, wiping his nose with his thumb.

Baz laughed heartily at this, the ever-present cigarette somehow staying in his mouth. "Ah, mon ami, you're far too wound up. You need to get less serious!"

Ryusuke smirked. "What, would you prefer I be more like Celeste?"

Anna's face lit up in horror, coming to a sudden realisation. "Ah, that reminds me, I promised Celeste I'd help her clean up her room! Something about flour…" With this, she ran off, shouting, "I'm sorry, papa!"

Ryusuke chuckled. "Aw, how cute, _papa."_

Baz's face lit up. "Ah, I'm so happy that you've come to see me as a father figure already! This is a happy day, my second child!"

A voice pierced the air, originating from the door. "Yeah, Baz, now you can shirk the responsibility of two children rather than one!"

The three people present turned to the source of the voice, finding a girl of around eighteen wearing a playful smirk standing in front of the door. She was 5'7" tall, and her silver hair, that would otherwise reach her shoulders, was kept in a messy ponytail, swept to the left with a few pieces of her bangs falling into her teal eyes. She was toned and athletic, with a small bust and pronounced hips. Her skin was a light tan, and her guild mark was adorning the top of her right hand, with a teal colouration. She wore a pair of short, black denim shorts, along with a white leather belt and short black combat boots. Clothing her torso was a teal tank top, with white wings printed on the back. There was a silver, star shaped stud in each of her earlobes, and three small, black loops at the top of her left ear, with two on her right.

"Ah, Aster, you wound me so!" said Baz, clutching his heart in mock agony.

Aster simply gave another playful smirk, whilst shielding her eyes from the sun. "Whatever, so who's tall, dark and serious over there?"

Baz gave a cool smile. "Oh that's Ryusuke Yugure, soon to be Sedgwick, though."

Ryusuke gave a sweatdrop. "Jeez, you act like I'm marrying your daughter, or something."

"You aren't man enough to be with my daughter! You'd have to be a bigger man than me, and we both know that isn't true." He took a long drag of his cigarette.

"You see this empty space of air in front of me?" Ryusuke, to punctuate his point, gestured in front of him. "This represents all the shits I give." He turned to Aster. "As the old man said, Ryusuke Yugure."

"Aster Eistir, nice to meet you! So, you play any games?" Aster grinned.

Florence spoke up, a cheerful smile on her face. "Hey Aster!"

"Oh, hi Florence! I didn't notice you there, you're talking a lot less than usual."

"I know, but the conversation didn't really interest me. Still, someone interesting is here, so we can actually have a conversation rather than listen to these two babble on!" Florence grinned.

Ryusuke sighed. "Right, here, you know."

Aster turned to face him, still grinning. "So, Ryusuke, you know how to play baseball?"

Ryusuke sighed. "Yes, but I don't like it."

Aster gave a contemplative look. "Well, what do you like?"

"Being left alone."

It was Aster's turn to sigh, before returning to her grin. "I mean games, silly!"

"Chess."

"Something athletic!"

Ryusuke sighed again. "Soccer."

Aster lit up. "Oh, I love that game!"

"You love anything that's a sport," Florence interjected.

"Hush, you. So, Ryusuke, wanna play?"

Ryusuke shook his head. "Nope."

Aster put on a playful smirk, before remarking, "what, are you afraid I'll beat you?!"

"No, not particularly."

"I think you are! Chicken!" Aster began making clucking noises, eliciting another sigh from Ryusuke.

"Fine, I'll play. Do you have a ball?"

Aster suddenly ran away, and Ryusuke sighed. _'I should probably get my lungs checked out, all this exhaling can't be good for my health…'_

* * *

Ryusuke placed his coat down on the grass, before making 8 precise, 1 yard paces and dropping the short, black leather jacket Aster had handed him on the ground. "That'll do."

"Okay then, Ryusuke, here's how it works. Penalty shootout! We make a spot twelve paces from the goal, and take turns five times to shoot from it whilst the other person is-" Aster was abruptly stopped by an interruption from Ryusuke.

"I know how it works, let's just get on with it."

"Alright then, I'll take the first one!" Aster dug her heel into the ground twelve paces from the makeshift goal, placing the ball down on the small indent she had created. Amused, Florence and Baz looked on, with Florence vocalising her support.

"Go Aster! Kick his ass!"

Aster grinned, as Ryusuke spread himself out, looking as big as possible. She took a short run-up, striking the ball with the side of her right foot, sending it low to Ryusuke's left. The boy dived low in the correct direction, and with the ball lacking power, he was easily able to reach it, and tip it away.

"Aw, damn it!" Aster swore, kicking the ground in front of her. Ryusuke gained a smug smirk, and collected the ball before walking out to the DIY penalty spot. Aster took her place in the middle of the two jackets acting as goalposts, jumping around, shifting her feet side to side as she did so. Ryusuke took a slightly longer run-up, stuttering just before he reached the ball. Aster shifted to her left, and so Ryusuke wrapped his right foot around the ball, sending it to Aster's right, beyond the smaller girl's reach, skimming past his own jacket, only just on the correct side.

From there, Aster sent Ryusuke the wrong way with her second shot, before Ryusuke put one straight through the middle as Aster dived to her right. Aster then shot to Ryusuke's right, and although he dived the correct way, the ball was beyond his reach. After that, Ryusuke fired one with incredible power to her left, and she wasn't quick enough to reach it. For her fourth penalty, Aster mirrored Ryusuke's tactic, and shot straight through the middle, whilst Ryusuke fell to his left. He then sent Aster the wrong way, firing one low.

"Well, Aster, if I make a save, I win. And more importantly, I can leave."

Aster gave a cocky grin. "There's no way you're stopping this!" She then gave the ball a firm drive to Ryusuke's left, looking to be out of reach. He took a step to his left, before launching himself into the path of the ball. He stretched his arms out fully, his fingertips just reaching the ball, and turning it around the 'post'. The only indication he was pleased with his victory was a small smile, which quickly dropped as he picked himself up, collecting his coat before walking away.

"Been a pleasure," he waved.

* * *

"Wisteria, could I please talk to you for a moment?" Wisteria, sat in the library, turned to see Rosa, a kind smile on her face. She removed her headphones, placing them around her neck.

"What do you need, master?"

"There is a particular mission request, it seems incredibly mysterious, and no guild has taken it yet. Apparently, locals of Oshibana Town have heard strange noises at night, seemingly originating from a temple a little ways out of the town. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like for you to go and investigate the occurrence. Some have described the noises as a banshee's wailing, and I thought it best to be safe and send someone well equipped to deal with strong threats."

"Of course, master. I'll leave right away."

Rosa continued smiling. "Thank you, Wisteria; I knew I could count on you."

* * *

Ryusuke didn't know how he'd been roped into this. He was truly in hell. A simple, innocent request was all it was. Rhea had offered to buy him dinner, as means of an apology for the massive amounts of flour he had been forced to wring out of his hair over the past twelve hours. He wasn't one to turn down free food, or free beer, so he gladly agreed to the excursion. What a mistake that had been. What he hadn't been informed of was that Celeste would also be tagging along, and with the two being 'rivals', she was eager to challenge Ryusuke to a rematch. He refused, and was promptly punched to the ground anyway. He could feel the headache coming on before the three even left the guild hall, and it was made even worse by what was apparently half of the guild deciding to join them. The incredibly hyperactive boy, and the rather dark, creepy girl sat at his table weren't helping matters at all.

The boy was called Eiko Haverj, a seventeen year old with red, spiky, neck length hair swept to the right. For some reason, he had tape on his nose, taking attention away from his slanted, auburn-like eyes, and he was slender, yet muscular, standing at 6'1". His honey-tan skin was decorated with strange, black tattoos on his wrists, extending halfway to his elbows. He was wearing a black, sleeveless hooded shirt, dark green skinny jeans stitched at the kneecaps, red straps criss-crossing on his hips, a black and red pouch on his left hip carrying a music player, and white, skull-like headphones around his neck. What irritated Ryusuke, however, was his ADHD, which meant he was incredibly giddy, and he was bouncing around on his seat. After taking a swig of his beer, Ryusuke finally spoke up.

"Are you incapable of sitting still?"

Eiko spoke quickly, his hyperactivity reflected in his voice. "Of course not, I just feel really energetic! Ooh, pool!" He ran over to a pool table, currently occupied only by Aster, who was apparently taking challengers. She had tried desperately to get Ryusuke to compete against her, but he had flat-out refused. He enjoyed the game, but he was busy. The burger came first. He took a large bite from the huge, meat laden bun, stacked high with bacon, cheese and beef, and gave an involuntary shudder when he heard the girl across from him speak.

"I wonder… is your blood sweet or bitter?" This girl was Lucina Cypher, and Ryusuke found her to be incredibly creepy. Her skin was incredibly pale, and she stood at 5'8", was quite slender, and had black, shoulder-length hair with red ribbons in it. She had grey eyes, and her teeth were disturbingly sharp.

"Keep wondering, you're not finding out," came Ryusuke's deadpan reply, his eyes shifting around the room, so that he could perhaps find himself a more comfortable atmosphere.

Lucina put on a cheerful smile, and replied, "aw, come on, I'm only kidding!"

At this, a gruff voice sounded from behind the girl. "Yeah, Lu, because I'm absolutely sure that everyone finds comments about the taste of their own blood absolutely hilarious."

Ryusuke's gaze travelled upward to find a 19-year old man by the name of Dean Arc. He was 5'11" tall, and had ice blue eyes shaped like almonds. His hair was dark brown, and messy, but controlled. It fell just above his shoulders at the back, and just above his eyes at the front, swept to the right. He was lean and muscular, with tanned skin, and the skin on his arm was marred by multiple scars. Dean was wearing a black shirt under a cream coloured jacket with a black hood. He had on black boots, with loose black jeans held up with a studded silver belt. Around his neck was a silver angel wings pendant.

Lucina gave a childish smile to Dean. "But it's funny!"

"Yes, positively hilarious," said Ryusuke, sighing all the while.

Dean wiped his nose with his thumb. "Whatever. I don't really care," he said, before walking away.

"Pleasant individual," Ryusuke commented, his voice as dry as the Sahara.

"I bet he'd taste bitter!" Lucina still wore a cheerful smile, unnerving Ryusuke all the more.

"Lucina, you really need to work on your humour…"

She gave a small 'hmph' before picking up a black, leather bound book marked with a pentagram on the cover, standing up and beginning to walk away. A black, bat shaped necklace thumped against her neck as she walked, her black, gothic Lolita dress swishing slightly as she walked.

Ryusuke sighed contentedly. "At last, peace and bloody quiet…"

* * *

Ryusuke couldn't enjoy the peace for long, however, before a fight inevitably broke out. He was munching on the last vestiges of his dinner when the flying figure of Styles Kaizu went flying through his table, shattering it. Ryusuke's face dropped as he sighed. This was going to be a long night.

"Say that again, asshole!" came the challenge from Celeste, one fist still raised. Styles picked himself up from the remains of the table, a large red mark, vaguely resembling the shape of Celeste's fist, upon his left cheek.

"You're far too arrogant, considering how much of an idiot you are." Styles was chewing on the wire of his headphones, and, as usual, had no emotion to his voice.

"You take that back, you animalistic bastard! You should be living in the goddamn woods!" Celeste was pointing a finger at Styles, her expression showing rage.

Styles, however, took this as a compliment. "Thanks, idiot. I suppose you have some semblance of a brain in there."

Kimi ran over to her brother, worry etched onto her face. "Styles, are you okay?!"

She was wearing a short black dress, the skirt having frills in it. Her short jacket was purple, and she wore black socks and converse, as well as carrying a red, stitched together leather doll with black button eyes. Her figure was voluptuous, and her bust large. She also had a black full moon tattoo on her left arm, and her guild mark was printed on the left side of her abdomen in white.

"I'm fine. No thanks to the idiot," he replied.

"Hey, shut your mouth, Styles, unless you want another knuckle sandwich!" Celeste shouted, raising a fist threateningly.

Ryusuke spoke up. "Yeah, no, it's fine, not like I was using that table or anything."

"You shut up! It's your own fault for being in the way!"

Ryusuke sighed. He wasn't sure exactly what was wrong with Celeste, but he was sure she had some form of psychological problem. Styles, meanwhile, turned his head slightly and spoke.

"Sorry." His voice and eyes were still dead, and he walked away from the scene, muttering to himself. "What's wrong with humans?"

* * *

The headache was in full swing now. Celeste's anger carried over to everyone trying to interact with her, and it wasn't exactly pretty, as even an offhand remark could set her back off. Dean, despite his rank of S-class, had been quite literally punched out of the door. Aster, meanwhile, had taken advantage of Celeste's anger, and persuaded her to spar with her. Of course, Celeste took the word 'spar' to mean 'brawl', and was currently in the process of destroying the room. It didn't help that around eight random mages had decided to get involved, including Eiko, who was, in reality, just running around the bar and flipping tables. Ryusuke, unable to take this kind of madness for much longer, had turned to hard liquor, sitting at the bar in lieu of one of the many destroyed tables. The barman looked shocked, to say the least.

"My boss is gonna kill me."

"You really wanna get in there, pal?" Ryusuke asked, slurring his words slightly. He inwardly groaned as he saw a guffawing Rhea approach him.

"Oh, this is freakin' hilarious! It's times like this I love this guild!" she said, seeming to recover from her laughing fit.

"This is your fault, isn't it?" Ryusuke asked, trying to keep his voice as deadpan as possible, straining it slightly.

"For once, no. And what the hell's wrong with you? Your face is really red."

Ryusuke found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Normally, he just said what he was thinking, or didn't even think before speaking. But now was different. He really didn't want to admit he was drunk, mainly because of the torturous hell Rhea would put him through trying to figure out just what she could get him to do. However, his thoughts were irrational, and his mind a swirling vortex of entropy. He had only one other response and it would be humiliating, and very difficult to explain in the morning. Logically, he should have just told the truth, eliminating the need for awkwardness. How astute, then, that logic seemed to have left the building.

"Well, um, I really like you and talking to you is making me blush." He hadn't even finished slurring out his sentence before Rhea's laughter resumed, louder than ever.

"Oh my god! You are really wasted! Bahaha, to think you'd be capable of emotion! Ah, Ryu-kun, you're a funny guy."

Ryusuke sounded upset at this. "You know, that's quite hurtful."

"You're different drunk."

"Yeah, and you're a bitch. Now piss off."

Rhea gained a playful smirk. "My, my, Ryu-kun, what happened to really liking me?"

"That was a stupid lie because I didn't want you to know I was drunk."

"What a stupid thing to say."

"I think I've killed my brain."

Rhea's smirk became devious as she produced a leaflet from her pocket, placing it in front of Ryusuke. "You're coming with us."

He examined the paper, finding it to advertise an S-class mission, with a hefty reward of four million Jewels. In his current state, he couldn't really organise the information in his head, but he picked up something about Clover Town, mountains and a Blizzardvern nest. All of a sudden, he found himself remembering Rhea's words.

"You said 'us'. Who else is going?"

Her smirk remained. "Celeste and Aster."

Ryusuke pondered this information for a moment. Had he been sober, he would have refused instantly. He wanted nothing to do with those two, especially with Aster's seeming obsession with competition and Celeste's… personality. However, he was not sober. In fact, to his mind now, it sounded like a good idea, an opportunity to actually make friends, rather than being the lone wolf all the time. Contrary to popular belief, he did actually enjoy having friends, even if he wasn't a very social person. His brain just disregarded the fact that he didn't really want to be friends with Celeste. At least the other two were mostly agreeable, and sane. At least, that would be how he would justify his decision.

"Sure, I'll go." For the first time since they'd met, Ryusuke gave Rhea a genuine smile. It might have been drunken and crooked, but she'd take it.

* * *

"Kimi, let's go." Styles walked past his sister, shoving a piece of paper into her hands. She examined it, finding it to be a mission request. The mission was in Acalypha town, and so the two would have to leave at that moment to get there the next afternoon.

"But Styles, would it not be easier to go tomorrow?" Kimi asked, confusion etched on her face.

"Read it," he growled. His voice betrayed anger, a rarity with the boy. She read the entire mission description, and realised why her brother was so angry. Illegal hunters had been terrorising the local merchant guild, Love &amp; Lucky, and had been killing local wildlife. Styles, having been brought up by wolves, had an affinity with nature, and loved animals. Kimi understood his rage, and followed after him and Nina.

"Styles, what are you going to do when we get there? It says that they want the hunters turned into the authorities."

Styles growled again, scratching Nina behind the ears in an attempt to calm himself down. "I don't care what those stupid humans want; I'm going to kill these bastards, whether they like it or not."

* * *

Celeste: I've been instructed by my author to tell you to go and check out dreadburner94's Undine's Cove! Oh, and Thunder Stone by MyDearWatson. Can I get paid now?

Me: Yeah, whatever. *throws money at her* Ugh, writing this story is going to give me cancer. I smoke far too much while I'm writing. So, good, bad, average? Give me your thoughts! Reviews make a happy author, and constructive criticism makes me happier, since it helps me to improve as an author! Yeah, if you don't like soccer, I apologise, but I felt the need to show it. Because Aster. And Ryusuke's mad skills. He's not one of those people who's good at everything, people just choose to compete with him at things he's good at. Anyhow, I hope I got all the characters down, and don't worry if you feel your character isn't getting enough screen time, I've been writing the last chapters in third person close with Ryusuke for a good reason; as the newcomer to the guild, I felt that writing close to his viewpoint would help introduce you guys to the guild and the characters as well. So yeah, next chapter we get missions, and more introductions! Oh, and if you want your OC on a team with anyone, just drop me a PM. Otherwise I'll just make them myself xD I have exams all this week, so don't expect another update for a few days at the least, but I think I make up for that with the rapid fire updates I've given you already. Oh, and I apologise for spamming 'Ryusuke sighed'. I'm trying to make it akin to 'Reacher said nothing' from the Jack Reacher novels. Actually, I'm not, it just happened. Anywho, I've rambled enough, so here are the back page liner notes:

Liner notes character profile: Ryusuke Yugure

Age: 19

Magic: Twilight Magic

Likes: Music, being left alone, playing guitar, reading, drinking, eating, his guild, swordplay, his friends.

Dislikes: Conversation, Celeste, being manipulated, pranks, baseball, being disturbed when eating.

Favourite foods: Burgers, pizza, pasta, bacon.

Special skills: Swordplay, soccer, sarcasm, chess, playing guitar, drinking.

Favourite songs: Sentry the Defiant by Coheed and Cambria; Four Simple Words by Frank Turner; Counterweight by Heaven Shall Burn; Inception of the End by Trivium; Mutiny by Parkway Drive

Theme song: Burning Bright by Shinedown.


	4. Devour

AN: I return with a new chapter! I now have a general outline for the entire story and the arcs it will contain, and I'm fairly confident that this story will be running for a while yet! Anywho, I'd like to thank all of the reviewers who wished me luck with my exams; your support has apparently made all of my exams so glaringly easy that if I'd bothered to do any revision I'd be calling up the exam boards and asking for my time back! I actually had time between exams, so I decided to get this chapter done for you guys, since I'm apparently a good writer, and this is apparently a good story. I thought I was crap, honestly! Also, it has occurred to me that I've been inconsistent with the colour of Ryusuke's magic; it is purple and white, not purple and gold. Apologies for the confusion!

Thanks to Lexlovesya, LightandDarkHeart, Lightningpanda, PrinceOfTheMatrix88, Manhattan Theory, MyDearWatson, FrozenBlast13, SaiyaStyles, Queen JJ, M-anonymous, VampyreEmoHunter and Cat the Alien (even though that was for chapter 1, but only showed up yesterday… but it was in my deleted e-mails too from when it was posted… weird.) for reviewing the last chapter!

On to chapter 3!

* * *

_Devour, devour, it's your final hour!_

* * *

Devour

"I'm in hell." Ryusuke was sitting on a train currently travelling towards Clover town. He was surrounded on all four sides, by a window, a seat back, a table, or by far the most irritating of blockades: Celeste Arturia. The girl irritated him to no end, but her animated conversation with Aster wouldn't be so annoying if she wasn't being so loud about it.

"Come on, Celeste, you know in your heart that I'd beat you," Aster smirked, clearly trying to elicit some form of reaction from the girl sat across from her. She succeeded.

"Oh, that's crap and you know it! I'll beat you all the way to Crocus and back any day of the week!"

Ryusuke sighed. "Celeste, would be please be quiet? I'm getting a headache."

She didn't take too well to this. "Oh yeah? And why the hell is that my problem?!"

"Because you're the one causing it…"

"Yeah, well if you don't stop trying to tell me what to do it'll be a hell of a lot more than your head that's hurting!"

Rhea interjected, with a grin on her face. "Aw, Celeste, leave poor Ryu-kun alone, he had a rough night." The grin devolved into a smirk.

"No. I refuse. Leave me alone." Ryusuke groaned, his face maintaining its usual bored expression, but his voice betraying his growing enmity.

Rhea's smirk grew wider. "So, how's the hangover?"

Ryusuke rested his head on his arms, which were currently folded on the table. "Piss off."

"My, my, Ryu-kun, that's an unusual way to speak to someone you confessed your love for only last night!"

Ryusuke merely sighed. "Kill me."

* * *

Oshibana Town. Only a short train ride from Onibus, and former location of the headquarters of the dark guild Eisenwald. Now, it was a booming town of commerce, a city based around its train station, with many dealers selling their products, and inns profiting on travellers. However, it wasn't the town itself that Wisteria was interested in. It was the temple just a little ways out of it. She was stood in the mayor's office, receiving a mission brief that the master had insisted she received. Honestly, she didn't understand why this was necessary; she could just go and deal with the issue, then return home, without having to deal with people. God, how she hated dealing with people…

"Are you the mage from Angel's Breath?" A plump, middle aged man wearing a business suit, with neatly styled black hair that Wisteria assumed to be the mayor walked into the room.

"Yes," Wisteria replied simply. She wanted to spend as little time in that stuffy office as possible.

"We believe the temple is haunted, and whatever is in there, I want you to destroy it!" The mayor's voice became panicked.

Wisteria growled. "Has it ever occurred to you that the thing in there is human?"

The mayor's eyes widened. "You haven't heard the noises… they're inhuman!"

Wisteria walked out of the office, her face scrunched in disgust. Her hair, though having been cut to level with her backside, still swished out behind her. She considered the man's words. To destroy something, something had had done no-one any harm? Despicable. She had vowed never to kill another human being unless she deemed it necessary, and it seemed as if the only harm this 'phantom' was doing was causing a little bit of fear and sleep deprivation. While she found a fair number of offences worthy of death, this was not one of them.

* * *

"Ohmigod we're finally back! That was a really long mission, I can't wait to get back and see everyone!" The girl speaking was a thirteen year old girl known as Melody Omacha.

She had soft, knee-length azure hair, skin coloured like milky coffee, innocent eyes of a true blue, and a thin body, stood at 4'11". Her amethyst guild mark was on the back of her right shoulder blade, and she wore a white bunny hoodie with the hood up, bunny ears on top, along with pale yellow shorts, white stockings reaching her knees and black, flat-soled shoes.

Another girl, who stood at the same height as Melody, pulled a pen from a white, woven leather belt worn loosely around her hips, and proceeded to write a subtitle in the air. "_I'm excited too, Melody-nee! I miss playing with everyone!"_

This was Echo Cyprus, fourteen years of age, a willowy girl with long legs with long legs and a relatively flat chest, peach skin and wavy, light blue hair falling to her shoulder blades, with one lock sticking up, almost as if it were an antenna. Her magenta eyes were large and almond shaped; she also had two gold studs in her ears, each with a small star hanging from it. She wore a frilly purple Lolita dress, with light pink ribbons around her wrists, white and purple striped socks, and black, shiny shoes. A pair of dark purple, wrist-length gloves adorned her hands, a pink bow choker wrapped itself around her neck, along with a matching ribbon in her hair. She also carried a bag, and a notebook was stashed in her belt.

"I agree! I wanna see if anyone has any new candy I can try!" This fifteen year-old was Mari Akiyama, and her silver, nearly white hair was tied in two loose ponytails and fell to her knees. Her eyes were violet, and her skin porcelain, although a small scar marred her left cheek, and her orange guild mark was on her left ankle. She was short and lithe, standing at 5'0". She wore no shoes, but she did wear black knee socks, with a pink skirt finishing a little above her knees, a white blouse, and a loose belt holding two long, pearl white swords, slightly curved at the tip.

The three girls often worked as a team, and it was rare to not see the three together in the guild. Being young girls, they were all rather cheery and innocent, and often had older members of the guild cooing in delight at their childish antics. Pushing open the doors to the guild hall, the three girls stepped over the threshold.

"We're back!" shouted Melody, a cheerful smile on her face. Anna was the first to hear her declaration.

"Hi guys! How did your mission go?

"_It went great, Anna-nee-chan! All of the townspeople were really nice, and it turns out that there were no monsters after all, it was just a big meanie trying to steal from people because he enjoyed it!" _After Echo had finished, she drew a small sad face in the air.

Mari raised her fist in the air. "Yeah, but we beat him, and everyone was really grateful to us, they even gave us free food and stuff!"

Melody's expression turned slightly fearful. "But Mari-chan, you got really scary when you were fighting that guy! It was like you were a different person…"

Mari's cheerful grin dropped, turning into an expression of guilt. "But he deserved it…"

Anna pulled the girl into a gentle embrace, soothing the girl before speaking. "Come on, now, Mari, there's no need to feel guilty about hurting somebody, after all, you were doing your job, and that man had been hurting all manner of people by stealing from them. What if he'd been stealing from someone who could barely afford to feed themselves? Is that kind of person really worthy of your guilt?"

Mari's expression didn't change. Anna didn't know. No-one could know exactly what it was like, how it felt when you became something like that, so merciless…

The four girls assembled heard a dark giggle. "Mari, why feel guilty? There's only one punishment for that kind of person, and that's to be sucked dry of every ounce of blood in them!" The cheerful smile upon Lucina's face was in stark contrast to her grim comment. However, being used to her, none of the girls were really surprised. "Even if you turn into a monster, there's no need to worry when it's directed at scum who are only fit to be my next meal. Enjoy it. Embrace it." She walked away, leaving the girls dumbstruck. Lucina wasn't exactly one for giving motivational speeches.

* * *

He thought he'd experienced hell before. He was dead wrong.

"I want a rematch!" came Aster's whine, the high pitch of it irritating Ryusuke to no end. They were currently walking towards the mountains at the edge of Clover, the location of the meetings of Fiore's guild masters. Rhea could see her friend's discomfort, but did nothing to avert it. She snickered as he sighed.

"For the last bloody time, Aster, I'll think about it, now please shut up."

"No, I'm not leaving you alone until you say yes!"

"Fine, I'll play you again, but just this once. After this, no more. Okay?"

"I suppose I can work you around later! Aster's usual smirk returned, and Ryusuke sighed. He had known this was going to be a long day, but he was starting to wish he'd reneged on the agreement he made with Rhea and just stayed in bed.

"Where are we even going? I don't see anything even resembling a nest for miles! I think we might be out here for nothing…" Celeste groaned. She was disappointed that she would perhaps have to give on fighting something.

"Just trust me, Celeste, I know where we're going," stated Rhea, a smirk on her face.

Ryusuke perked up slightly, bringing his right hand to the pommel of his sword, ready to draw at a moment's notice. "We're going to get attacked, aren't we?"

As he spoke, a wyvern's cry could be heard in the distance, rapidly closing in upon the group. Ryusuke sighed, knowing that at least he'd get to offset his irritation on the creature. He then heard another cry. And another. Turning around, Celeste was the first to see a group of six blizzardverns closing in on the four, and her face broke out into a wide grin.

"Bring it on, you overgrown lizards!"

As the creatures approached, it could be seen that they were massive draconian creatures, easily the size of a five storey house, likely even bigger. The blizzardverns were predominantly white, with three large, black talons on each foot, and two rows of black spines running down their backs. Their heads were angular, and they were exceedingly scaly.

"Leave this to me," said Ryusuke. He jumped, reaching a good height, before performing a Shadow Sneak technique, appearing around fifty feet in front of the flying creatures. "Twilight Slash." He let loose a large, black and white crescent of energy as he swung his sword. It was large enough to hit two of the creatures, but it barely affected them, leaving only scratches, and slowed them down only slightly. "Well shit," he swore, before he was barrelled out of the air, already beginning to fall.

* * *

To say Styles Kaizu was angry would be the understatement of the century. He and Kimi were in a forest, just off the road into Acalypha Town. They had stumbled upon a trail of dead animals, among which were deer, wolves and foxes. His eyes were not emotionless as they usually were, but instead showed pure, unadulterated rage. Kimi shared his enmity; she had nearly as large an affinity with nature as her brother did. Her eyes betrayed anger, but not to the level of Styles. He pulled a black scythe, made from bone and looking to have been dipped in blood, from his back. His black fingerless gloves had spikes on the knuckles, and he was ready to use every last weapon to make someone suffer.

"Goddamn humans!" he screamed, gripping his scythe so hard his knuckles went white. Suddenly, the two heard a rustling noise. They turned to its source, and saw two humans emerge. They were clad head to toe in black, with only their eyes showing. They looked to be of similar size and build, around the 6'1" mark, with a lot of visible muscle mass. After them came a hulking man of 6'7", with spiky black hair, wearing a black outfit the same as the other two, but without covering his face. He had a horizontal scar running across his nose, and wore a predatory smirk.

"Well, well, boys, look what we have here! Mages! Or, perhaps a better term would be _fresh meat._"

Styles gained a psychotic grin; Kimi's face became serious, aiming pure hatred towards the three. Styles spoke, his voice surprisingly calm. "So, is this your work? I must say, you seem to be surprisingly effective. Just a shame that I have to stop you. After all," his smile grew even more psychotic, and his head tilted to the right, "I can relate. Killing humans like you only ever brings me pleasure!" He pricked the fingers on his left hand with his right glove, drawing blood. "Blade of Essence!" A blade, made of his own blood, appeared in his left hand. His grin grew even wider, and he stabbed towards the ringleader with his bloody blade.

"Kayel-sama!" one of the other men shouted, attempting to run to their leader's aid.

"Zombie!" A man emerged from a card Kimi held in her right hand, bald, dilapidated, full of holes and his innards beginning to spill out. However, this summoning was incredibly fast and cut the two men off before they even had a chance to move.

"Your opponent is me," Kimi stated coldly.

* * *

"Gunblade Magic: Deploy!" The blizzardverns were still advancing on the group of three, now less one member, who had plummeted out of the air onto the unforgiving ground below. Celeste held Tyrhung in her right hand, her finger having pulled the trigger, twenty ticks remaining on the blade. Ten golden, medium sized projectiles were shot from the blade, forming into a circle around her. With a wave of her sword, the spheres repositioned themselves into a line in front of the rapidly advancing beasts. Even as the blizzardverns advanced, the spheres exploded outwards. The explosions were small, but the chain reaction made them noticeably larger. All six of the draconian creatures emerged from the smoke, although not unharmed. There were small burns covering their bodies, and the ones that Ryusuke had managed to wound were looking worse for wear than their four compatriots.

"Shooting Star!" Aster still wore a smirk, and a large beam of silvery-white light, looking rather the same colour as the solar portion of Ryusuke's Twilight Magic, exploded out of her hand. The beam struck one of the more heavily injured blizzardverns directly in the chest, shooting it out of the sky. Two of the creatures had rushed ahead and landed in front of the other three, Aster now panting slightly, her exertion obvious. "Starlight!" she declared, a flash of white light momentarily blinding the two creatures.

"Gunblade Magic: Artillery Strike!" A large golden shot fired outwards, consuming five charges. With the blizzardvern blinded, it couldn't dodge the shot, and Celeste's aim was true enough for the creature to be struck in the head, knocking it down. However, the other blizzardvern had recovered from its temporary blindness, and struck its claws at Celeste. She raised Tyrhung to block, but it was overpowered, and she was knocked a good twenty feet away.

"Rhea," Aster shouted, "now would be a great time to help!"

Rhea merely smirked at the girl. She held out her left hand, her index finger outstretched, pointing directly at the blizzardvern on the ground. "Illusion: Inversion." The creature then began attacking behind itself, clawing at thin air. Its sense of sight had been inverted, and so it was now seeing Aster as being behind it. The girl took this opportunity to strike. As she raised her hands, Celeste ran in, Tyrhung pointing at it.

"Gunblade Magic: Full Salvo!" Fifteen golden projectiles were shot from the tip of the sword, all converging on the blizzardvern's location. They exploded upon impact, burning the creature, and knocking it out of the fight. Aster smirked.

"You know, if it wasn't for me, you'd probably have died there."

Celeste's face dropped in anger. "Shut up! I could have taken them both on my own, but you just had to get involved and steal all the glory!"

Rhea's face grew serious as she addressed the girls. "You know, we're not finished yet…"

Celeste's face grew into a grin. "This day just keeps getting better and better…" She charged at the remaining blizzardverns, hovering around ten feet in the air. "Gunblade Magic: Overload!"

* * *

Wisteria was slightly disturbed. She had entered the temple, which looked unassuming and decrepit from the outside, but inside, it was like a warzone. Furthermore, the walls were covered by old, tattered banners depicting an eye open wide, inside of an open mouth. She had a hunch on what that sign was: the symbol of a dark guild. She had heard tell of Gluttony's Hunger, apparently a guild solely dedicated on summoning a demon that was considered the embodiment of gluttony. Only hearsay, of course, but the stories had always intrigued her. She walked through the abandoned building cautiously, watching her step and constantly scanning her surroundings. All of a sudden, she heard a rustling noise. She turned. Nothing. Turning back, she heard another noise, this time originating from a different spot. Again, she turned. Again, nothing. Darkness. Shadows. The light seemed to have been drained from the room. Perhaps the sun had been obscured by clouds? Even with the windows boarded up, some light had been coming in through the door she had left open. She kept her composure, but another noise pierced her ears. This one loud. A kind of wailing. It was getting closer. Closer still. She turned just in time for a figure to latch itself onto her arm, teeth biting in. Her eyes glowed white, her rage seemingly uncontrollable. The ground quaked as she released her hold on her rage.

"Who are you, and what the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked, her voice bitingly cold.

"Hungry… so hungry… I need to eat!" came the man's (for the voice was decidedly masculine) reply.

Wisteria got her first good look at him, and saw that, despite his immense size, he was still just a boy, perhaps only seventeen. He was around 6'5", with a flabby torso lacking definition, but large muscles on his limbs. His hair was shaggy, black and shoulder length, with bangs covering his blue eyes. He wore a simple, ragged brown tunic, with brown pants and boots. Although, with his teeth wrapped around the skin of her forearm, Wisteria didn't particularly care. Nobody touched her. She was angry, and this boy had freed the beast. Her voice was cold and commanding.

"Disaster Magic: Inferno."

* * *

"Come on Andrea, just a little bit?"

"No, Lucina; I am not letting you drink any of my blood." This girl's name was Andrea Agnelli, an eighteen year old mage who wore a perpetual nonchalant expression.

She was short, slim and flat chested, with hair a shade of silvery white kept short, a few strands reaching the back of her neck, and two larger strands framing her face, a fringe barely covering her left eye. Her face was skinny, her cheekbones high, skin pale and eyes light blue. Her guild mark, located on her left bicep, was the same colour as her eyes. She wore a sleeveless white dress shirt, with a semi-transparent light blue sweater, a blue, pleated plaid skirt lined with black lace, an armband on her right bicep, thigh-high black stockings, and ivory ankle boots.

"Aw, I'm just kidding anyway! You know I think you'd be too bitter!" Lucina wore a cheerful smile, showing that, despite the grimness of it, her comment was still a joke. A look of realisation dawned on Andrea's face, and she began laughing uncontrollably.

"Oh my god… Lu, that's really funny!" She laughed so hard that she brought herself to tears. Lucina was quite surprised; this was the first time she'd ever seen Andrea laugh. In fact, it may have been the first time she had ever seen Andrea express emotion; she was hard to amuse, and Lucina was dumbstruck. The girl made dark comments because she loved to creep people out, it may have been a joke, but she never expected anyone to laugh. Yet, here was Andrea, crying with laughter.

"Andrea, are you okay?"

"Aha… I'm sorry, but that was too funny! I can't believe that was a joke this entire time! I mean, drinking my blood for pleasure, oh god!"

Lucina may have been slightly perturbed, but she supposed the normally calm girl had to laugh at something, even if that something was her dark and inappropriate humour. "So, Andrea, when do you want to head out for a mission?" She again wore a cheerful smile.

Andrea, meanwhile, had calmed herself, returning to a nonchalant expression. "When Puzzlebox gets back; I want to take something high-paying, and we'll need three people for the one I have my eye on," she replied, her voice returning to being as nonchalant as her facial expression, as well as slightly cold.

Lucina's voice remained cheerful. "You know, we could do with more of the laughing Andrea!"

Andrea's face was still impassive. "There's something wrong with you, Lu."

"You know, that could be quite hurtful!"

"But that's the truth."

* * *

Celeste charged towards a blizzardvern with Tyrhung held close to her chest, pointing upwards at the sky. It was loaded with sixty charges, and beginning to be enveloped in a golden light. "Gunblade Magic: The War Goddess' Pillar!" She closed the final gap between her and the flying beast, with a massive grin on her face. She then slashed diagonally downwards, connecting with the creature. After this, she attacked with a flurry of slashes, each one leaving a large slash mark on the blizzardvern. Finally, she gave a powerful downwards slash, causing her and the creature to be surrounded by a pillar of golden light, which dissipated after a few seconds, to show Celeste standing over a fallen blizzardvern. Four down, two to go. Celeste was really enjoying this. However, her victory was short lived, as the remaining two blizzardverns attacked her at the same time. They could not come close, however, before Rhea had come in-between them and their target, a smirk upon her face.

"Tornado Wall." Four huge twisters of wind erupted from the ground, each one as tall as four of the cold-temperature wyverns, and spinning at around sixty-thousand rpm. The blizzardverns were both repelled, flying back from the force of the wind. Rhea's smirk grew wider as she raised her hands, waving them both outwards as the wyverns tried taking to the air. "Windscythe." Several hundred blades of wind appeared, each razor sharp, in the shape of a small crescent, but barely visible. They shot outwards at incredible speed, each hitting a blizzardvern, cutting into the flesh of the creatures, leaving them covered with lacerations, and bleeding rather profusely.

"Twilight Cannon!" Ryusuke had appeared, his coat tattered, and himself covered in bruises and small lacerations, but looking otherwise healthy. A large ball of twilight magic was on the tip of his sword, and as he named the attack, a beam shot forward from the ball, with a wide radius, and closing in on one blizzardvern. It made a direct hit, and caused the creature significant damage. It tried flying away, but with a quick Shadow Sneak, Ryusuke was directly in the path of it. He gave a smirk. "Not this time, you reptilian bastard." Even as he spoke, a projection of the moon began glimmering in the air, and an attack similar to his cannon, but composed of purely white light, finished charging on the end of his blade, the light reflecting beautifully off the meticulously polished silver surface. "Moondance." The magic shot over the wyvern, instead reflecting off the moon projection, imbuing it with magic of a very deep purple. It reflected directly at the blizzardvern, which was struck directly, and fell. He gave another small smirk, before returning to his usual bored expression, glancing over to see Aster fighting with the one remaining creature.

"Falling Stars!" Aster shouted, throwing her hands outwards, upon which small beams of starlight erupted from her hands, impacting with the creature. It roared, and she smirked. She knew she only needed one more hit to finish it, so she'd give it a good shot. "Twinkling Star!" Several small orbs of starlight came from her hands, circling around the beast. It looked amazed, and in wonder. She smirked, knowing that this was her victory. "Shooting Star!" she cried, the attack emerging again, and as it had before, striking the wyvern directly, putting it out of commission. She breathed a sigh of relief, as the fight was over. Damn, that had been tiring. The amount she had used her magic had left her drowsy, but she knew they still had to clean up. She turned to look at Ryusuke, behind whom was a large trail of destruction, leading all the way back to Clover, with several buildings lying in ruins. She was shocked. She didn't take Ryusuke to be the type of person to cause that level of damage.

"Oops?" he suggested, shrugging. Celeste began laughing.

"Oh god! Not only was it not me, it was the serious, calm guy who tries to make people think he never gets pissed off! I've gotta get a picture of this! Hey, Ryusuke, do a pose!" Celeste was clutching her sides now, as for once, she had not destroyed anything, yet, despite being a fair distance from the town, Ryusuke had somehow managed to annihilate half of it. Rhea didn't look too pleased.

"Ryusuke, how the hell did you manage to do that?" Her hands were on her hips, and a frown on her face indicated a rare displeasure.

Ryusuke was shocked. Not only had she used his actual name, but she, for once, didn't have a smile on her face. Then again, after seeing that technique nearly defeat two of the wyverns on its own, he decided that her ire was a bad thing. He was sure that she'd been holding back, as well; she might not have seemed it, but Ryusuke had observed that she was actually rather intelligent, as well as conscientious: she wanted her team-mates to be the ones to finish the fight. Just without destroying half of the town in the distance. Whoops. "Well, I had to soften my landing with a Twilight Cannon, otherwise I probably would've died. And that would have been bad."

A small smile found its way to Rhea's face, and she couldn't help but chuckle. "You know I'm gonna get the crap for this, right?"

"You don't have to, I can take responsibility for myself."

"Now, that wouldn't be very leader-like of me, would it?"

"Leader-like?" Aster requested, finally speaking up, her smirk playful.

Rhea grinned. "Well, yeah, I'm the strongest here, and besides, without me you wouldn't be here in the first place; this is an S-class mission, remember?" She turned to look at Ryusuke, her smile fading somewhat but still remaining. "And therefore, I'm responsible for my teammates," her face distorted to a devious grin, "and _disciplining them._"

Ryusuke sighed. Before that point, he couldn't wait to get home. Now, though? Now he could wait. He could tell that Rhea's idea of 'discipline' would be to humiliate him in front of the entire guild. In fact, she probably wasn't going to get nearly as much crap for this incident as she made out; she would just enjoy humiliating him. Seeing as he did probably deserve some form of punishment, given that he levelled half of a small town, he decided that he would resign himself to his fate. After all, it couldn't be that bad, right?

"Yeah, you're screwed!" Celeste guffawed.

"Just to say," Aster began, "she really does get a lot of crap for this. The master really doesn't like it when stuff like this happens, and Celeste does it enough for it to be a recurring problem-"

"Hey!" Celeste interrupted, scowling.

"Like I was saying, it becomes a recurring problem and the Magic Council sends letters sometimes. She's getting better though! I think…"

Rhea mirrored Ryusuke's characteristic sigh, before regaining her grin. "Like the Fairy Tail of old! Complete with the letters! Natsu Dragneel destroyed my house once, you know!"

Ryusuke looked intrigued, whilst Aster sighed. She had heard this story around twenty times before, she told it to everyone. Also, it appeared that sighing was becoming contagious.

"Yup! I used to live in Clover, and I was 12 at the time, it was just before I became a mage, actually. But there was this thing called Lullaby and-"

Ryusuke mercifully interrupted, saving Aster. "I know what happened. I read."

Rhea was about to retort when the four felt a dark presence descend, and looked up to a ridge to see a large, bulky man, with hair as midnight, eyes as black as the devil's soul, wearing a pure black robe, seeming to be shifting with the shadows. His face was young and handsome, unmarred, looking around twenty. His hair swept across his face as an ominous wind blew, giving the team of four the shivers.

"Well, well… it seems like there is a party going on," his face devolved into a grin, "do you mind if I join you?"

* * *

Wisteria's eyes glowed red, and her hair flew up, as if a gale blew it upwards. A swirling vortex of flames surrounded her, almost completely blocking her from sight. The boy attached to her arm had long since retreated, obviously knowing the danger that the flames presented. It wouldn't save him, however. With a simple flick of her wrist, Wisteria sent the flame rushing at her enemy. The fire encroached upon him, burning the boy severely, and as it dissipated he could be seen to be covered by severe burns, his clothing almost entirely burned off, leaving only the smallest fragment of his trousers. His hair was singed and burnt as well, his scalp showing, already beginning to blister. He panted, before picking up a chunk of rubble, and sinking his teeth into it. Wisteria was amazed, and a little fearful. She didn't understand this magic, and she feared what she did not know. She watched, dumbfounded, as the boy's hair regrew, and his burns and blisters began to heal. He was still in horrible shape, but he no longer looked like he'd been set alight and dropped in petrol. He held out the palm of his hand, a bubble of brown magic growing inside it.

"Granata!" he shouted, throwing the ball at Wisteria. She wasn't stupid, she knew she should dodge it, but the attack was incredibly fast, and it got a glancing hit as she dodged. It exploded massively, but only forced her back a few inches, leaving just a small burn on her left cheek. The boy looked slightly fearful, but rather than cower in fear, he tore another, larger chunk out of the rubble he had been holding, and threw the attack at her again. Knowing it was ineffective, she let it hit. Big mistake. The attack threw her back three feet this time, with her landing on her ass, a larger burn upon her right cheek, her clothes torn apart, and a burn could be seen on her stomach. That had actually hurt. Before she could stand again, however, he attacked again, creating a large bubble of magic, and throwing it at her. It looked significantly larger than his Granata spell, but moved around five times slower. This gave her the time to dodge, and it was a good thing she did. The attack hit a far wall, and even ten feet away, she was still hit by a shockwave, and forced back slightly. The attack reduced the entire wall to rubble. Wisteria wouldn't give him another chance to attack.

"Yin Magic: Leech." A small tendril popped out of the ground and grabbed the boy's ankle. He slowly began to look drained, and couldn't produce his Granata spell, his magical energy being sucked from him. It seemed as if she would suck him dry.

"Please," he spoke, his voice hoarse and gravelly, "I didn't mean to hurt anyone! Help me, please!"

Wisteria looked on coldly, not believing a word the boy said. That is, until she saw the tears in his eyes. They looked genuine, and she couldn't, in all good conscience, continue attacking. Especially not when the boy was essentially begging for mercy. "Why should I?" she asked coldly, her eyes not once leaving the boys face. He didn't notice her scrutiny, however, and proceeded to explain himself.

"They did this to me, a dark guild, Gluttony's Hunger. They," he almost couldn't continue, Wisteria's magic still draining him, although it had slowed, "they said they were trying to summon some demon lord, Adelph-something, and they did some ritual, and it put this magic inside me. Gluttony Magic. I-I just can't sate the hunger, it gnaws at me, and I have to eat all the time, anything I can find. I try so hard to control it, but I've eaten nothing but rubble for so long, I'd be dead if I couldn't turn anything into magic power. Please, I'm begging you, help me!"

Wisteria actually looked sympathetic. Her anger had dissipated. Although this boy had angered her so highly, she could see that he was damaged. Just like her. He was crying for help, and she could relate. She dissipated the Leech tendril, and simply looked at the boy. "I'm Wisteria Eneta Solari, a mage of Angel's Breath. Who are you?"

The boy sighed, finally free of the tendril. He was still in bad condition, but he could at least rest easy now. "Viktor… Abbadon." Viktor's breathing was laboured, and as he stood his movements were sluggish.

Wisteria gave him a cold look, but deep in her eyes, was a hint of empathy. "I'll take you back to my guild. I'm sure my master will be able to help."

Viktor looked overjoyed. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" He made for Wisteria, but she gave him a glare that spoke more than words ever could.

"Never touch me."

* * *

Kimi's zombie was tearing through the two bandits. They weren't even mages, and they were armed with only daggers. However, her zombie was having a hard time taking the two down on its own. She drew a card. "Troll!" she shouted, a pale green creature, a little larger than an average man appearing before her. The creature carried an axe, and without being commanded, jumped straight at the two bandits. Its axe cleaved through one, just as the other stabbed her zombie through the eye. She called off the summoning as her troll's axe cut through the second bandit like he was butter, completely bifurcating the man. She still held a cold look, and dissipated her troll back to its card.

"Scum."

Meanwhile, Styles was busy fighting against the leader, Kayel. He still wore a psychotic grin, his voice polite and friendly.

"You know, you should consider corpse as a career choice. I really think it would suit you!" He sprinted forward, cutting the man with his Blade of Essence, and swinging his scythe, leaving a large gash beneath the man's ribs, drawing blood. Styles grinned.

"You little brat! I'm going to kill you! Rock Pillar!" A pillar rose from the earth, and Styles easily dodged it. The man might have been a mage, but he was a rather weak one. Most importantly, now that Styles had drawn blood, the man was finished.

"Infection," he grinned. He could see the effect instantly. The attack had thinned Kayel's blood, and reduced the effectiveness of platelets considerably, preventing the deposition of fibrin. Basically, the man was bleeding out, and his blood wasn't clotting any time soon. The size of the wound Styles had inflicted increased the effect, and Kayel felt dizzy immediately. He fainted not long after Styles had called the attack, his blood flooding the forest floor, as he had forced the animals he had killed to do before him. "Quite truthfully, I don't give a shit about some stupid humans losing their stuff. It was when you decided to kill the sacred constructs of nature for fun that you pissed me off." Giving a final psychotic grin, Styles decapitated the man. Given that he was unconscious, he couldn't suffer anymore, and he wanted Kayel's death to be as gruesome as possible. He turned to see Kimi walking towards him, two bifurcated corpses behind her. He grinned.

"Where to now, Styles? Shall we collect the reward?"

Styles' eyes once again became emotionless. "We may as well. After all, we finished the job."

* * *

"So, what happened to them? Did you turn them in?" This was the question of a middle aged man in a business suit, at the Love &amp; Lucky merchant guild.

"They died," Kimi stated simply.

"I asked you to hand them over to the authorities! Why would you kill them?"

"We would have died otherwise." Kimi was speaking for the two, as Styles was simply stood in the corner, glaring at the strange human.

The man gave a heavy sigh. "Very well, I suppose it couldn't be avoided…"

* * *

Rhea grew serious, her face devolving to a frown. "Who the hell are you?"

The dark man chuckled, his voice giving off a vibe of pure destruction. "I am a mere passer-by, one who has long since forgotten his own name. You may call me The Wanderer, for I merely wander this land."

"In search of what?" Ryusuke asked, his voice now laced with hostility. He knew danger when he saw it. And conversed with it.

"In search of fun," The Wanderer grinned. "And you, Ryusuke Yugure, shall prove to be very fun indeed."

"Listen, you goddamn creep!" Celeste screamed, "I don't know who the hell you think you are, or how you know Ryusuke, and frankly, I don't care! I just wanna know what the hell you want with us!"

The Wanderer gave a malicious grin, chortling to himself. "I wanted to meet the famous Ryusuke, of course! You know, your master talked all about you."

Ryusuke stiffened at the mention of his master, his face dropping into a malicious snarl. "What the hell do you know about her?"

"I know that she screams just as loudly as everyone else when the right amount of pain is applied," The Wanderer laughed, his light giggling exuding waves of malice. Ryusuke snapped. His face contorted in rage, and he rushed towards the man.

"_JUST WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU, YOU BASTARD?!"_

Rhea and Aster, having noticed the danger, both shouted. "Ryusuke, don't!" However, it was too late. He couldn't even hear them, their words drowned out by the sound of a red mist permeating his psyche.

"_I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU FOR HURTING HER! TWILIGHT SLASH!_" He imbued his blade with the attack, swinging wildly. The Wanderer caught Ryusuke's sword with his left hand, uttering the words, "Destructive Interference." A large slash suddenly appeared from nowhere on Ryusuke's torso, a burst of Twilight Magic erupting from it. He fell, blood staining his destroyed clothes, the slash reaching from his left shoulder to his right hip. The other three, needless to say, were not happy, and all rushed towards The Wanderer at once, Celeste performing an Overload, Aster charging her most powerful attack, and Rhea preparing her Windscythe attack.

"How disappointing," The Wanderer said, his face dropping with what looked like sadness. He crossed his arms, palms pointing at the rushing mages. "Destructive Pulse." A pulse of energy, barely visible, came from his palms, hitting the three females with a large percussive force, knocking them unconscious, and sending them flying backwards several feet. "And that was a weak attack… you're all like ants to me right now." He took a small vial from inside his robe, uncorking it and dumping the contents on Ryusuke's wound, before dropping the bottle on him. The wound seemed to seal somewhat, with the blood flow being staunched. "I shall let you live for now, only because you promise to be a lot of fun as you get stronger. I shall meet the four of you again next when old demons resurface, even if you do not realise." With this, he walked away, disappearing into shadows.

* * *

"Anna! Un petit, we must away! There is a mission calling us!"

Anna merely stared at her father as if he had just sprouted mushrooms from his head. "What is it, papa? And why is it so urgent?"

"Ah, I can tell you as we travel, un petit, but for now, Magnolia calls!"

* * *

AN: Shit went down! So, just who is The Wanderer? Who is Puzzlebox? What the hell did Mari mean? Why is Echo writing in the air? What is Baz and Anna's mission? Who is Ryusuke's master that The Wanderer can elicit that level of emotional response from Ryu-kun, who is usually The Stoic? Since when did Rhea know how to be serious? Does Celeste actually give a shit about Ryusuke? Will I ever stop asking rhetorical questions? All these questions, and more, shall be answered in due time… a couple in the very next chapter!

So, good, bad, average? I can't improve without your feedback, folks, so send it in! I'm really happy I could give you this chapter so early, especially with the shit that goes on. I was originally gonna cut the end of Styles' and Kimi's fights and show them next chapter, but I guess I'm just too nice! Also, I felt like jumping into that next chapter would be stupid. Twilight slash is inspired by Ichigo's Black Getsuga Tenshou in Bleach, and Rhea's Inversion spell is inspired by Shinji Hirako's Zanpakutou, Sakanade. Also, yay for biology knowledge! So yeah, give a review folks, I love hearing from my loyal (which is surprising, given that this is the fourth chapter including the prologue) readers! You're all legends! Anyhow, I bid you adieu, 'til next time! Hopefully Friday, if not then next week, as I'm having a drink-fest this weekend with some friends. TTFN!


	5. Three Evils

AN: You open your email. You see a message that wasn't there before. The email is from Fanfiction. You jump with joy upon seeing the subject title. You open the email, and click on the link contained within. And that link? It brings you right to this page, where you are currently reading this.

So, umm… been a while, hasn't it? I've been really busy with exams (which, mercifully, are finished) and that double edged sword, that which is both good and devastating… work. It isn't even that hard, it's just… eurgh. "Flip the pancake, then put acres of shit on it and probably burn it. Oh, and the pay is crap." This should be my job description, but, alas, it pays. At the expense of my writing time, but I can manage. I hope. I will continue this story if it kills me, it took time and effort to plan it right through to the end, and my plans are HUGE! Also, the impact of the last chapter made me very happy. All of you make me blush, honestly :3

I hope you enjoy this as much as you enjoyed last chapter, and all that's left is to thank all those who deigned to review: Cat The Alien, Frozenblast13, Lightningpanda, M-Anonymous, ManhattanTheory, Queen JJ, LightandDarkHeart and PrinceoftheMatrix88.

* * *

_You'll listen to reason, when you're face down in the dirt._

* * *

**Three Evils**

Four figures lay prone upon the dirty rock. Blood stained the ridge they lay upon, in vast quantities, most of it either pooled around the only one of the figures who was male, or seeming to have sprayed from his body, and a small vial was resting in the dried, caked-up blood directly next to him. The other three figures, females, were sprawled on their backs, quite a way away from the male, and indeed, from each other. The scene was one of devastation, with deep gouges carved into the rocky outcropping, still but a tiny mar upon the mountain. The four figures all lay inert, a product of some kind of immense trauma, to have them unconscious long enough for the blood to dry completely, operating under the assumption that the blood was that of the male. Nevertheless, all four still breathed. The breathing of the women was even, as if they were merely sleeping, although slightly ragged, perhaps as a result of some low level of concussive trauma to the midsection. However, the man was in rough shape. His breathing was incredibly shallow and ragged, and his dark grey overcoat, stained with blood, had been ripped from shoulder to hip, and would fall off his body if not for the ground keeping it in place. In short: it was ruined. Therefore, it was Bane Claec's first choice for a bandage. He had been out for a short stroll on his way back to Onibus, his mission recently completed, when he had happened upon the four figures: three of his guildmates, and one complete stranger. However, care he had for his guildmates had been overridden by this man's ailing condition; in truth, he looked close to death, and Bane wasn't about to let that happen. Especially after seeing the mark on his neck. He tore off the rest of the coat, working quickly to tie it around the man's wound completely, completely staunching any possible blood flow. The wound looked to have clotted, and it would end as a nasty scar, but Bane wouldn't take any chances. He looked around and wondered how to wake the girls up. Taking a swig from a hip flask, he shrugged, before preparing himself to shout.

* * *

"Well, won't this be fun?" A sarcastic voice graced Florence's ear, and she gave a very aggravated sigh. She turned to face the owner of the voice.

"Cyrus, shut the hell up! You should just be happy that the Lightning Queen herself invited you into her team!"

"Lightning Queen? Hearing you being full of yourself just never gets old!" Cyrus Angelos was a boy of eighteen, standing at 5'9" tall, with a slim, but slightly muscular, build.

His skin was lightly tanned, and his hair, midnight blue and shoulder length, was tied in a messy ponytail with bangs falling into his eyes, which were a sharp grass green, and held intelligence. His arms were covered in various tattoos, and he had a black stud in his bottom lip, with his unseen guild mark being located in silver right above his heart. He wore a grey t-shirt with a pair of loose fitting, faded, ripped black jeans, and a pair of black cargo boots. There was also a gold chain tucked underneath his shirt.

"At least I have a reason to be," Florence replied smugly.

"Not that I care all that much, but why are you calling it your team?" Dean spoke up from his front row seat to Florence and Cyrus' exchange.

"Oh, gee, I guess there's absolutely no reason, Dean… I mean, it couldn't possibly be because I'm the one who decided to form this team, could it?"

"Yeah, and I guess you're the strongest as well, right?"

"Well, Dean, I'm glad we're in agreement! Let Team Lightning Queen go on its first mission!" With this, Florence walked away, effectively ending the discussion.

"I'm regretting this already."

"You ain't the only one, Cyrus…"

"Think she realises how terrible that name is?"

"No, I'm sure she assigns everything a name she thinks sucks." Dean began following after the departing Florence, sighing all the while. Cyrus merely shrugged and followed after the two of them.

* * *

Eiko was, predictably, giddy. He was bouncing in his seat, and full of energy. He popped a small red pill from a packet, and threw it in his mouth, downing a large gulp of water with it. He felt it calm him slightly, but not really enough to have any kind of visible effect. Of course, the girl talking at him wasn't really helping matters.

"So the thing about potatoes is that they're unlimited and they can give you light and stuff and oh that reminds me of this awesome thing that's in the bible about when God said that he would let there be light and BOOM! Loads of light and suddenly and then the world then all the water and stuff and the sky and it was all awesome and then we were here and then potatoes came and ooh! Then we got candy and stuff and it was all- Eiko, are you listening to me?" She jokingly gave a slight whine on the last part of her sentence, and saw that he wasn't.

This girl's name was Nui Cytre Yunchen. She was 15, and stood at 4'11". Her hair was a black-brown colour, falling to her waist with bangs swept off to the right. Her eyes, unusually bright in their blue, were innocent and wide, giving a large amount of life to her small, petite face, and a chain snaked up her neck, with lotuses and bluebell flowers hanging from it. She wore a black and red, laced gothic lolita dress, with lavender ballerina shoes ascending to her knees. Her hands were adorned with blue and black striped fingerless gloves, she wore two-fingered chained rings, and a pair of indigo headphones was upon her neck. Her hair, meanwhile, was accentuated by a scarlet and white, dotted standup bow. She began speaking again, her pace almost too quick to follow.

"So anyway there was that thing about potatoes right and how they can give us light and it's really awesome honestly it makes me happy that we can get light from something that isn't magic and anyway the thing is-"

"Let's go play pool!" Eiko shouted, almost jumping out of his seat, running towards the stairs. Nui happily followed after him, easily keeping pace with the hyperactive boy.

"So the thing is, " she began, before Eiko interrupted her.

"I don't care about potatoes!"

* * *

"So, this guild…" Viktor began, his eyes on Wisteria, who was staring listlessly out of the train's window.

"Don't talk." She said this forcefully, and a little tiredly. Truth is, she was tired of the constant company, and she just wanted to be alone somewhere. Unfortunately, she appeared to have picked up a barnacle. Not that there were many other places for him to go, however. She turned up her music and simply relaxed, trying to tune out the world around her.

The two sat in uncomfortable silence (well, uncomfortable for Viktor, anyway) until the boy could bear it no longer. "Okay, seriously, when will we be there!?"

Even as he spoke, the train ground to a halt, and so Wisteria simply replied, "now."

The two exited their train carriage, Wisteria still silent, Viktor nervous and fidgety. He received a few stares, due to has tattered, burned, and nearly completely destroyed clothing, and they unnerved him. Wisteria, of course, paid them no mind, and set a pace allowing the boy to follow, scowling all the while. The two passed a few landmarks, such as the mage's bar, which left Viktor awestruck, but Wisteria simply walked until the two reached the guild hall of Angel's Breath. She simply led Viktor in, before taking him straight to the master's office, letting herself in and shoving Viktor through the door so roughly he ended up on his knees. Rosa looked at Wisteria questioningly, a suitcase set alongside her, obviously on her way out somewhere.

"The reason for my mission," she scowled, before taking her leave.

"So, you were the person 'making inhuman noises', as the request so delightfully put it?"

"Yes. I- I just couldn't help it!" Victor cried, sinking to his hands as well, before spilling everything to Rosa. The dark guild, their experimentation, the hunger. By the end, he was crying, and Rosa could only look upon him with compassion. The boy was traumatised, that much was certain. How could she, the guild master of Angel's Breath, a guild known for its compassion and acceptance, a woman who believed firmly in the human spirit and ability to reform, turn him away?

"It seems wrong that I know so much about you, but not your name. I'm Rosa Caliburn, the master, and you are?" she said with a warm smile, and eyes full of sympathy.

"Viktor Abaddon."

"Well, Viktor, welcome to the guild."

* * *

"WAKE UP SLEEPYHEAD!" Rhea awoke to find a fit, toned man of 6'2" standing over her.

He had pale skin and violet eyes, and his guild mark was covered up, but in purple on his back. His hair was black and layered, reaching the nape of his neck, kept in check, although questionably, by a dark purple headband, which kept his fringe out of his face, but just pushed his hair up and backwards in a disorganised fashion. He was wearing fit black pants tucked into tall, black leather boots that reached to just below his knees. His pants were kept up by a black leather belt with a silver skull acting as the buckle. He wore a dark purple shirt, the top of which was visible under a long, black overcoat, which was buttoned up by three silver buttons running down it. It reached his knees, but the bottom was thrown backwards in a duster-like fashion. His hands were clothed by black fingerless gloves.

"Bane," Rhea mumbled groggily, "what are you doing here?"

"I was just out walking; found you four here, unconscious. Whoever the guy is, he's in pretty bad shape. He needs taking to Clover, but I couldn't exactly leave you three lovely ladies here to sleep, could I?"

His words instantly alerted Rhea, and she snapped into a sitting position. "Ryusuke! Is he okay?!"

"He should be fine, but he still needs his wound looked at… that's one nasty gash, how'd he pick that up? And come to think of it, why exactly were you four lying out here in the first place?"

"It was a routine mission, really; came out here, rinsed some Wyverns, then this guy came up, said some shit, got us into a fight. We lost. Badly."

"Yeah, I can tell that…" Bane rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "You guys got beaten bad. Still, whatever you feel about it, just embrace the pain, feel it, and use it to make yourself stronger, so you can kick the guy's ass next time!"

Rhea favoured him with a smile. "Heh, thanks for the motivation, I guess. But we need to get out of here, let's wake up the others and get going."

They did just that, arising both Celeste and Aster before Bane tentatively placed Ryusuke over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. However, he simply wasn't gentle enough.

"Who the fuck are you, why am I on your shoulder, and what in the name of sanity happened to my fucking coat?"

* * *

"I'm sorry, but nobody here sent in a request for help to your guild, so you should probably just leave. I apologise for the inconvenience."

"Now, now, mon ami, it's right here, plain as day. I'm afraid that we cannot ignore a request like this." Baz was looking at Macao Conbolt, the fourth guild master of Fairy Tail. Their guild hall was modest, to put it nicely. To be realistic, it was beaten up and run down. Baz took a long draw on his cigarette, before his daughter spoke up.

"Mister Conbolt, it might not have been a member of your guild, but somebody sent us this request, and we're here to honour it. Perhaps it was an admirer, or a fan, but in any case, we're here to help and we won't leave until we have." Anna spoke calmly, and with compassion, her face betraying only sympathy for the guild. Really, how could she not feel for them? Their beleaguered fourth master looked incredibly tired, and losing so many of their important members at Tenrou island six years before had obviously taken its toll on the once magnificent guild. The harassment by Twilight Ogre was proof of how much they were struggling.

A child, of perhaps ten or so years, spoke up from behind the master. "Fairy Tail doesn't need outside help! We can take care of any of our problems by ourselves, lady!" This boy was Romeo Conbolt, son of the master Macao.

"Ah, calm yourself, un petit. Despite all of this, we are here to answer a request, be it by one of your guild or a member of the public. However, I would guess that it is a member of the public, given the mentality that your guild appears to have."

Macao began to look embittered, and clenched his hand into a fist as he spoke. "Who would care about Fairy Tail nowadays?"

"Ah, mon ami! There is no need to be so cynical! Evidently, somebody cares, or we wouldn't be here!"

Even as Baz finished his sentence, a voice pierced the air from behind him.

"Well, look at this… Fairy Tail getting help from another guild. That's low!"

Baz turned to see two generic grunts laughing their asses off. Their Twilight Ogre guild marks were clearly visible on their arms.

The second goon spoke. "We're here for the payment, Conbolt… and I hope you're ready to pay up!"

* * *

The trio stood in a cave. It was dark, musky and damp. They had been sent there due to it being the supposed hideout of thieves, but really, they couldn't be very good at it if they were using a disgusting cave as a hiding place. At least, these were Florence's thoughts as she strode into the shadows, her two companions following after her with equal confidence. After all, how could a bunch of thieves measure up to three highly trained mages?

"Hey, lowlives!" Florence shouted. "Get out here so the Lightning Queen can kick your asses!"

Voices came from the back of the cave, approximately thirty metres and a curve in the wall beyond the three.

"Who the hell was that?"

"Queen? Sounds up herself!"

"C'mon, Johnny, let's go teach her a lesson!"

Within seconds, two men had come running from the dark recesses of the formation, skidding to a halt and paling when they saw three opponents instead of just one. Cyrus smirked, Dean merely looked nonchalant. Florence however, gained a happy grin and launched herself at the two.

"Lightning Eruption!" Two large bolts of lightning erupted from the ground, one each at the feet of the two, and they were stunned instantly, knocked unconscious on the ground. "Well, that was easy…"

"Just keep going," Dean sighed, "There're obviously more of them."

And so the trio moved onward, and it didn't take long for them to find a group of around nine men sitting around on rocks, just relaxing. The walls of the cave were lined with stolen goods, stacked upon each other. Amongst them were weapons, food, and wads of money. The thieves were instantly alerted by the arrival of the three intruders.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Who cares! Let's just waste 'em!"

All three mages smirked at this, and Cyrus spoke up. "Three each?"

"Sounds like a plan," Dean replied, and they split themselves into a line formation, Dean in the middle, with Cyrus to his right and Florence to his left. The thieves all pulled out weapons, ranging from daggers to greatswords, and a lot of them were shiny and new, obviously stolen, well out of the price range of a band of amateur thieves hiding in a dingy cave. Six of them charged at the trio, whilst three of them held back.

"Those three are mages, right?" Cyrus asked.

"No, they're holding back looking menacing for shits and giggles." Dean replied, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"Idiot," Florence added, before rushing to meet the charging opponents, four of whom swung their weapons at her. She dodged backwards without a problem, before holding out her hand. "Thunderclap!" She clapped very loudly, creating lightning in her hands, and releasing a shockwave of it towards the enemy. They all tried to dodge it, but three of the four who attacked were not so lucky, falling unconscious to the ground.

"Alright, tag out, _your majesty_," Cyrus said, adding a sarcastic bent to the final two words. Florence, as always, decided to take them seriously and gave a regal, condescending smile to him before running towards one of the men who had held back. When he clapped his hands and released a small seismic wave, the trio's assumptions were confirmed.

Meanwhile, Cyrus was amongst the non-magical goons. "Che, is my magic even needed?" He pulled the katana from his back and slashed one of them open. He fell to the ground, dead. Cyrus didn't feel much. Accidents happen, and these guys weren't really worthy of his sympathy. He hit one in the back of the head with the blade's blunt side, before smashing the pommel into one grunt's temple. He quickly ran towards one of the mages, who paled slightly. Dean simply strolled towards the only opponent left. "Apocalypse Soul: War." He was enveloped by a crimson light, and emerged from it looking like a different man. He had gained heavy, blood red armour with crimson accents, and extravagant spiked shoulder guards, a red shoulder cape hanging from the right one. His breastplate was engraved with runes, and he looked positively terrifying. To the mage in front of him at least. He held out his right palm, and calmly said, "Rage Burst." A red beam cam from his hand, hitting his opponent with a large amount of concussive force, knocking him out instantly.

"That was too damn easy…" he said, dissipating his armour.

Florence and Cyrus were coming to the same conclusion. Cyrus was lazily dodging his assailant's ice-based attacks, whilst Florence was jumping away from the weak seismic waves her opponent was emitting before getting in close and attacking with her hands and feet. However, both had had enough of playing around.

"Lightning Strike!"

"Concentrated Beam!" The two shouts were simultaneous, but they had different effects. Florence's Lightning Strike had a bolt of lightning tearing through the cave's ceiling, striking her opponent and knocking him out, possibly killing him. Cyrus' attack, however, formed a concentrated beam of light that shot at is opponent, knocking back into a wall, cracking it slightly.

"That really was far too easy," Dean remarked, holding a long length of rope in his hands.

"Why the hell do they have rope?" Florence asked.

"I don't think we wanna know," Cyrus replied.

* * *

"Why did it have to be golems?" Lucina asked her two companions, the look on her face one of sadness.

"Scared, Lu?" One of them asked, her eyes focused upon her friend, a cat padding along next to her.

"No, but golems don't have any blood I can drink, Puzzlebox!"

The girl simply let loose a smirk, showing off abnormally sharp incisors. She stood at 4'11" tall, and her body was lacking muscle mass. Her hair was black, and reached her waist. It was tied in a loose ponytail, and her bangs split in the middle, framing her face down to her jawline. She had an aristocratic face, with high cheekbones and it was downturned. The most prominent part of her face, however, was a black blindfold with royal blue tracing, which held a contrast to her skin, which was almost unhealthily white. She wore a black dress, with royal blue lace patterns adorning the hem, and attached sleeves.

"Enough of that, we should just get in, kill these things, get the money and return home." Andrea strode a little faster, wishing to get to the monsters and destroy them as quickly as possible.

"Huehuehue… ever so serious, Andrea! Sometimes I do wonder how your blood would taste! Cortisol rich, I guess."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Lu," she replied.

"I think she's right," Puzzlebox stated, her voice soft, but still audible, "we should just annihilate these fuckers and be done with it."

The cat padding alongside here mewled in agreement. "See, May agrees too." Puzzlebox stated. May was black-furred, with white around her paws, right eye, which was coloured royal blue, and her tail's point.

Lucina merely responded by matching her companions' pace, and before long they had arrived at a rocky outcropping, where they were confronted by two stone creatures. They were massive, standing easily at ten feet tall, and were incredibly bulky. They had no necks, and were coloured a stone grey, with arms the size of small cars.

Lucina giggled. "At least I get to have some fun!"

* * *

Ryusuke's questioned were answered only by a firm smack to his backside.

"Why?" He sighed abjectedly, already able to guess the answer.

"Because you deserved it." Rhea crossed her arms and smirked. Celeste just broke down laughing at him, and Aster couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"But why my arse?"

"Only place in reach."

"I hate you, Rhea."

"No you don't. Besides, you shouldn't speak to Bane like that! Have some gratitude, if it wasn't for him, we'd all still be lying there."

Ryusuke, with some effort, turned his head to Bane. "Bane, was it? Yes, as much as I appreciate it, your picking me up was wasted effort. You see, I'm not an invalid."

Bane chuckled. "Y'are right now, kid. So you're getting carried."

Ryusuke sighed. He said nothing, but got a grip on Bane's lower back and flipped himself off his shoulder. An action he immediately regretted, falling to one knee, gasping in pain, and clutching his hands to his chest.

"You're an idiot." Rhea gave a light slap to the back of his head, as he stood and walked shakily back towards the group.

"I think I'll take that ride now."

"Thought you might," Bane smirked, before picking him back up.

"Who are you, anyway?"

"Bane Claec. S-class mage. Of your guild. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Huh. Likewise." And with this, Ryusuke adopted his usual silence, even as the group walked. At least, until Aster spoke up, a teasing smirk on her face.

"You know, you don't look half bad being carried like that, Ryusuke."

"Wonderful," he replied, "maybe I should model for _Fireman's Carry Monthly_."

Bane chuckled, and Rhea giggled. "Y'know, Ryu-kun, I think I might take a picture, y'know, to send in!" This had everyone laughing, apart from Ryusuke himself, who merely sighed.

"And you people wonder why I don't talk."

* * *

"Well, mes ami, I'm guessing that you are the people we're here to deter, hmm?" Baz said.

"I'm afraid we can't go easy on you," Anna added, "not with you hassling innocent people like this."

"Innocent?" one of the Twilight Ogre goons began, "they owe us money, like it or not!"

"We owe you nothing!" Macao protested, "we've already paid our debts, you just keep coming to add on these 'interest payments' of yours!"

"You borrowed money from Twilight Ogre, you pay the interest rates we set!"

"I've heard enough," Baz said. "Le Bonheur." He took a drag of his cigarette, and blew out the smoke. It turned black, and rapidly converged upon the location of the two Twilight Ogre mages in the form of tentacles. They gripped on to the two tight, causing visible discomfort.

"I ain't taking this from an old man… Ice Shard!" A shard of ice formed in one of the grunt's hands, and cut through the smoky tendrils. He threw the shard and cut through the appendages restraining his partner, who immediately recovered himself.

"Take this! Boulder Toss!" He put his hand to his shoulder as if he were a shot-putter, and a relatively large rock formed upon his shoulder. With deceptive strength, he threw it at Baz and Anna. They, however, remained calm. Anna simply spread out her hand.

"Protegez." A metal shield formed around her and her father, completely stopping the boulder in its tracks, although it did dent the shield somewhat. It dissipated and Baz took another drag from his cigarette.

"A Bout de Soufflez." He blew the black smoke towards his opponents, causing them to cough, and tears to stream from their eyes. The smoke's great volume increased its area of effect, and soon the two were doubled over in a fit.

"Jardin de Fleurs." Anna made a few complicated hand signs, and a garden of sharp metal flowers was released. They surrounded the two coughing men, and converged upon them, cutting into the two's skin and drawing blood.

Baz took a long drag to prepare the finisher. "Tirez Sur le Pianiste." Two gun-like appendages composed of smoke appeared on his hands. From each shot a single smoke bullet, looking dense and heavy. Each bullet collided with a goon, sending them sprawling onto their backs, unconscious.

"Well, mes ami," Baz said, "It is probably time we took our leave. If ever you need help like this again, feel free to give us a call."

"Well, I should thank you for the help, I suppose. Have a safe travel." Macao spoke, his moustache bristling. With this, Baz and Anna walked away, Baz extending a hand into the air.

* * *

"Did I tell you the thing about potatoes? Well they're really great and you can do this thing…"

Viktor sighed. Why did this girl like to babble on so much? What was her name again? Yui, or something, Nui? He knew that the boy across from him practically dancing in his seat was called Eiko. The girl had just come over and started energetically talking at him, and Eiko had just been bouncing around the room and found an unfamiliar face there. He was willing very hard for her to stop talking, and mercifully, she did. However, she looked to be contemplating something, and after only a couple of seconds began speaking again.

"You should join a team with me and Eiko!"

Viktor was dumbstruck. She had known him for the sum total of ten minutes, maybe less. "Why?"

"Well you're like the odd one out and so is Eiko and I know we only just met but you seem like a really nice guy and three is the best number so we need a third person!"

"Hey, wait a second, when did I agree to this?" Eiko protested.

Nui merely smiled. "When I told you that you don't get your medication back until I do!" She deftly reached into Eiko's pocket, removing the pill packet he had taken from earlier before running away.

"Hey, that's not fair! Get back here with those!" Eiko immediately started sprinting after her, knocking over several tables and chairs as he did so. Viktor looked on with bemusement at the people in his new guild. He didn't think quirky was strong enough of a word.

Meanwhile, as Nui approached the front door, Styles Kaizu and his sister Kimi entered the hall. Only for Styles to be immediately bowled over by Nui. Eiko energetically approached the downed duo before extracting his pill packet from Nui's hand.

"Hey, thanks for the block, dude!"

Styles simply sighed. "What's wrong with humans?"

* * *

"Blood God's Bellow!" A large torrent of black blood was shot from Lucina's mouth, colliding with one of the golems. It did naught but chip off a few pieces of rock and force the creature back slightly. It lunged wildly at the Blood God Slayer, but missed as she deftly dodged, and was instead brought into Puzzlebox's path.

"Echo," she stated, an invisible wind construct giving her a form of echolocation. "Wind Make: Golem." A large golem, almost identical to the ones it was supposed to be fighting, but made of wind, appeared. "I'll fight these rocky bastards at their own game."

Meanwhile Andrea was, as ever, completely serious in fighting one of the golems. With its compatriot occupied by Puzzlebox's construct, it swung a large fist down at Andrea. She jumped back, and the golem's fist instead collided with the ground, leaving a large crater. "Ice Dragon's Roar!" She held her hands to her mouth, cupped in the characteristic pose, and released a blue blast of energy, which seemed to suck all the heat from the area around her. It chipped the golem, but more importantly, flash-froze it. One down.

Lucina giggled as she unleashed another bellow at the remaining golem, damaging it even more, and causing a distraction that allowed Puzzlebox's wind construct to club its head. However, Puzzlebox grew tired of the battle, and she wanted it to be finished. She had requipped into tight leather armour with a hood up, and not even a centimetre of skin shown.

"Wind Make: Cage!" A cage of wind was created around the golem, trapping it in a vulnerable position. Perfect for Lucina to swoop in.

"Blood God's Nosferatu!" Lucina's hands were encased in a massive amount of black blood, which shaped itself into claws. She then let lose a devastating slash with both of them, which tore chunks from the golem's body. At that moment, however, ice could be heard breaking. Lucina went over to help where Andrea was already preparing the next technique to throw at the onrushing monster.

"Ice Dragon's Cold Blade!" A greatsword of ice formed in the hands, and, dodging to the side of the golem's clumsy swipe, she slashed at its midsection. She left a decent-sized scratch, but ice immediately began spreading over the wound, slowly moving up the golem's body, restricting its movement.

"Blood God's Bellow!" Another torrent came from Lucina's mouth, this time shattering the creature completely. That was one of them definitely down. The other one was having a difficult time contending with Puzzlebox fighting it with a massive scythe of wind, but it wasn't too damaged. Andrea decided to instantly change that. Putting her hand upon the bulky leg of the golem, she declared:

"Ice Dragon's Blooming Ice Lotus!" The leg was coated with a thin layer of ice, and Andrea removed her hand, allowing the technique to feed off the eternano in the atmosphere, getting thicker and growing to coat the golem's whole body. It was having incredible difficulty moving, and after a few seconds, it was completely frozen and completely still. Lucina giggled, whilst Puzzlebox readied to swing the scythe.

"Blood God's Nosferatu!" Lucina let loose her technique again, and slashed at the same time as Puzzlebox, and with both attacks hitting at once, the ice, along with the creature inside it, shattered. Puzzlebox requipped back into her normal attire and May simply mewled, emerging from hiding now that the fight had finished.

"Now let's go find me some poor, helpless idiot's blood to steal!" Lucina's grim comment was in a direct contrast to her upbeat voice and cheerful smile.

* * *

"I'm fine, get off me."

"Are you sure? That wound looked pretty deep, I should probably keep you here to rest for a while."

"I said I'm fine. I'm going home, not staying here." Ryusuke was talking to a medic in a small clinic in Clover. Thankfully, it hadn't been one of the buildings he had destroyed, otherwise he was sure he'd be in deep trouble right now. He tugged his shirt on over a thick layer of bandages as he exited the building to find Bane, Celeste and Aster waiting for him.

"Where'd Rhea go?" He finished buttoning his shirt.

"Somewhere," Bane replied, "said she had some kind of business."

"Whatever. I'm sure she can find her way home, I'm going." His tone had hints of both sorrow and anger to it.

"Hey!" Celeste stood up and walked over to him, standing threateningly astride him. "What crawled up your ass, hmm?"

"That bastard ruined my coat." All assembled facefaulted at this declaration, Aster and Celeste having a much greater confusion. Celeste's pranks did nothing to anger him, but rip up a coat? They were confused, to say the least.

"Your… coat," Celeste managed to utter, before shaking her head and walking away. She needed to decipher this before she could punch him in the face for some reason she'd come up with later.

"Don't you have, like, nine of them?" Aster inquired, looking bemused.

"That was my favourite."

"Aren't they all the same?"

"They're all my favourite."

It was at this moment that Rhea decided to show up, looking bright and happy. "You know that makes no sense, right?"

"Yeah, well, so's your face."

"You know, Ryu-kun," Rhea gained a devious smirk, "you're just digging yourself a hole here."

Ryusuke's reply was quick. "Yeah, but the further underground I get, the further away I am from you and the idiot, so I'll keep digging."

He was quickly downed by a punch to the back of his head. "Who d'you think you're calling an idiot?" Celeste stood over him threateningly, but he stood nonetheless, rubbing his head lightly as he did so, and characteristically turning away from her and addressing Rhea.

"What were you just doing, anyway?"

"Stuff."

"Okay then. I'm going home, come with me or don't, I've reached my limit for caring today."

Rhea and Bane brought up the back of the group, strolling casually through the streets. "That's pretty nice," Rhea remarked.

"What is?" Bane asked.

"He's already calling the guild home." She gave a small smile before quickening her pace slightly.

* * *

"So, are the preparations complete?"

"They are, sir, all seven of us are ready to retrive."

"Pfft, I could do this alone and you know it!"

"Please, calm down, Delia. This is to be a team effort."

"Hmph."

"What are we hunting for again, sir?"

"Just some form of Unspoken Treasure, my friend…"

* * *

AN: DONE! Finally! That took so long, and I felt so out of the groove! So, good, bad, average? Apologies if it feels a bit sloppy, after taking so long away, I felt a bit out of sorts with writing the characters until I got closer to the end. Standard applies, if your character didn't get much screen time, do not worry! It will come. I have big plans. BIIIIIG PLANS. I shall try to update once a week, but don't quote me on that. I'm a busy man. Oh, and my friend said about Ryusuke, "he's a pimp and doesn't know it." Just thought I'd share that one. So, until next time folks!


	6. Attack

AN: What's up? I return with a new chapter, and we're kicking into a new arc! Introductions are out of the way, so let's get on with the next part of the story! I'm blushing and gushing at all of the positive reviews I'm getting, but that they're all positive worries me slightly. I'm not THAT damn good, if something's wrong, I want criticism. It helps me to improve as a writer. Still, I'm glad everyone's enjoying the story, so without further ado, let's get on with it! Right after I thank FrozenBlast13, Queen JJ, PrinceOfTheMatrix88, ManhattanTheory, SaiyaStyles and Lightningpanda for their reviews.

* * *

_Run away, I'll attack, I will attack_

* * *

**Attack**

"Surveillance is such a bore…" A dark figure lay prone on a small hill. In the shadowy hours of the night, not much could be discerned about the figure's appearance, but the voice betrayed the figure as a female. She was dressed all in black, as was her partner, outfitted, quite clearly, for stealth alone. Even the facemasks they wore betrayed nothing but a merge with the inky darkness of the midnight hour.

"What's wrong? At least we're outside, this is much better than being stuck inside some stuffy room with everyone else! But you have to go and be such a grouch about it…" This voice was also female, another figure, also lying prone. She was shorter and thinner than her partner, but also looked more graceful. She took a pair of high-powered binoculars from her partner and gazed into the street around fifty feet away.

"Be quiet, Ana. He should be coming any time now. We've been told to eliminate any threats to the mission, and these people are sure to stick their noses in where they don't belong. This applies especially to our target, known to be intelligent, powerful, and above all, nosy. Keep an eye out. We have to get rid of him."

Even as she talked, a lone figure wearing a long overcoat passed by, looking relaxed, with no hints of suspicion or paranoia about his person.

"Hey!" Ana said, her tone hushed, "is that him?"

"He matches the description near perfectly. Let's get moving." And with this, the two figures took off towards their target.

* * *

_A few hours earlier:_

"I don't know who you are, but I would very much like for you to stop talking." Ryusuke wasn't exactly the happiest man on the planet. He'd picked up a huge wound on his torso that still pained him even now, a week after the incident. He had been near enough ordered to take it easy, and his definition? Not having to listen to little girls babble on about the first thing that comes into their minds.

"Aw, but I wanted to tell you the thing about potatoes," Nui whined, Eiko hyperactively laughing his ass off at Ryusuke a few feet away.

"I already know enough about potatoes."

"Oh really?" she pouted, "like what?"

"They make good chips." He sighed. He had not signed up for this crap, and he had been in this guild for around a week and a half, still barely knowing half of the members. He had hoped to keep it that way, but he was forever being baited into conversations he simply wasn't interested in.

"Okay, but there's this thing in the bible where-" she was abruptly cut off.

"Atheist." Ryusuke tried to drown his sorrows in his beer, but it didn't work. She just kept talking.

"Well I can still tell you more about-" the rest of her words were lost to him.

"Kill me."

* * *

He was in charge of the guild whilst the master was in Clover. Oh joy. On one hand, he could just sit around and drink all day, but on the other, he was responsible for everyone. And something bad always happens in these situations, just as surely as day turning into night. It was almost a cliché. And Bane would be the one to bear witness to it. As he swigged from his flask despite the store of alcohol only feet from him, an unfortunate habit, he sincerely hoped that fate wouldn't choose to screw him over.

"Something wrong?" Dean sat on a stool next to his fellow S-Class mage.

"Nah, nothing, just irrationally worrying about whatever the hell's gonna happen while the master's away."

"Yeah, I'm sure there's going to be an alien attack, followed by a massive Chthulhu eating us all." Dean's voice was dry and laced with sarcasm.

"Gee, thanks, you made me feel a whole lot better." Bane took another long swig from his flask, frowning when it became empty. He turned and walked away, absentmindedly wondering if his worrying had any foundation. After all, he did have a feeling, just something in his gut. Something that told him everything would not be fine. Not for long.

* * *

"Starlight!" A flash of brilliant white light occupied the landscape. It was brief, but it was enough.

"Goddamn it Aster!" Celeste Arturia shouted. "You blinded me! You're about to freakin' pay! Gunblade Magic: Homing Shot!" Only thirteen ticks now remained on Tyrhung as a small, blood red projectile was produced, largely askew of its intended target. However, true to its name, the projectile corrected its course, and aimed instead straight for Aster, forcing her to run.

Rhea and Florence watched with a muted interest. Watching their two friends spar wasn't exactly at the top of their to-do list for the day, but it was a great way to kill time. They watched as a small explosion enveloped Aster's location and sent her flying, kicking up a small cloud of dust as she landed. Rhea smirked; this was the perfect moment to earn herself a little something extra. She turned to Florence.

"Fifty jewels on Celeste."

Florence smirked back. "I'll take you up on that; Aster's gonna stomp her."

As the two shook hands to solidify their agreement, both combatants felt a little offended, both having heard the exchange. Celeste wasn't entirely happy; how could Florence think that, of anyone, she would lose? It was a travesty that these thoughts could enter somebody's mind! She focused herself, and now, with the gift of sight restored, she redoubled her efforts.

"Gunblade Magic: Full Salvo!" Thirteen projectiles erupted from Tyrhung's blade, heading straight for Aster. The girl knew she wouldn't be able to escape them and so readied herself for defence instead.

"Falling Stars!" Thirteen small beams of Aster's Star Magic came from her outstretched palms to intercept Celeste's Salvo. Having already used her reload spell, Celeste charged in. She thrust her sword forward before pulling the trigger.

"Gunblade Magic: Scatter Shot!" Seven projectiles flew from Tyrhung, straight towards Aster. She narrowly dodged, and as such, their sparring session continued.

* * *

"How's the wound?" Bane asked Ryusuke, taking a long drink from whatever alcoholic beverage he had decided to stock his flask with. Why he was drinking from the flask, no-one would ever know, given that he was in a room that had a bar as its centrepiece.

"Healing. As wounds tend to." Ryusuke himself took a sip from his beer, largely uninterested in a conversation. Despite this, Bane was one of the more agreeable members of the guild, and given his power level, Ryusuke had put him firmly in the category of 'people not to fuck with'. So he had decided not to complain. This wasn't going to stop him from being himself, though.

Bane merely laughed. "Yeah, they do tend to do that. I'm just worried about your health, that's all."

"I'm fine. And your worrying does nothing to aid my recovery, so don't."

"It might not, but that doesn't stop me. You know if you need help with something, you can always come ask me."

"Duly noted."

"I'm being serious, I care about my guildmates. Even the ones who don't seem interested in it."

"I wasn't questioning your legitimacy."

A small smile played on Bane's lips. "So what exactly did the doctors say when they took a look at the basket inside that case?"

Ryusuke smirked. "They didn't say anything, they were so horrified they all had heart attacks." With this, he stood up and walked away, raising his hand in a wave. Bane just smiled and shook his head, before realising that he had spoken to two people today that he had an important task for.

"Ah, crap… hey, Ryusuke! Go get your team, I need to talk to you in Rosa's office."

Ryusuke merely turned and acknowledged him, before heading out to the back door of the guild hall.

* * *

Florence begrudgingly handed fifty jewels to a smirking Rhea. Stupid Aster, losing the fight.

"How do you like that, Florence?!" Celeste shouted over. Her smug grin spoke volumes.

"Damn… you really wanted to prove her wrong, huh?" Aster sidled up alongside Celeste, rubbing her head. "Well I challenge you again! And this time, I'm gonna win!"

Celeste smirked, readying Tyrhung once again. "You're on, let's go!"

Even as the two prepared themselves to go again, a voice pierced through the air. "Hey, idiots! Bane wants to see us about… something."

Rhea piped up. "Something? That it, Ryu-kun? I could probably get that from the bar."

"Whatever. You don't want to come, it's up to you, on your head be it."

His three teammates followed after his retreating form, whilst Florence simply settled into her chair, content to enjoy the sun. How unfortunate, then, that she would have only another few seconds.

"Florence!" Ryusuke shouted from the door, instigating her to look up. "Apparently you're coming too."

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Celeste said, "these people expect us to find this thing, fight off anyone else who wants to take it, then give it to them? Sounds pretty boring, why's it S-Class?"

"Because of the nature of the item, and who else might be after it," Bane replied, "There've been reports of a few dark guilds going after it, and it's said to hold a lot of power. The master left it with me, but she also told me to stay here, so I'm leaving it with you guys, two teams headed up by S-Class mages. I think it's in capable hands."

"Famous last words," said Ryusuke.

"Right," Dean said, "So what exactly can it do?"

"Yeah, we don't know." Bane looked slightly apprehensive at this.

"Well, just fantastic. Let's go collect something, braving death and danger, for something that, for all we know, can only cut cheese," Cyrus snarked. Surely there were better things he could be doing with his time?

"You're not telling us something," Rhea stated, watching Bane's eyes shifting carefully.

"There are rumours," Bane began, "but they're just that. Rumours."

"Tell us then." Aster's tone was resolute, but respectful.

"She's right," Ryusuke sighed, "the more information we have, even if it is speculative, the better prepared we are."

"Okay then." Bane spoke tentatively. "I've heard tell that the Unspoken Treasure can be used as an infinite incendiary."

"And that means?" Celeste asked.

"It blows things up a lot." Ryusuke sighed. Some people were just idiots.

"So why is it that dangerous?" Florence asked. Rhea was the one to respond.

"Can you imagine a dark guild with a massive bomb that they can use over and over again? They could singlehandedly devastate the entire country."

"That makes sense, I suppose. But why is it unspoken if it's just a bomb?"

"Some jackass clearly thought it was a cool name," Cyrus coolly replied, "don't be an idiot."

"You're an ass, Cyrus."

"Why thank you, _your majesty_."

Florence snorted in disgust. She really couldn't stand his attitude sometimes. "So where the hell are we supposed to start?"

"I've been told that there's a dark guild with a lot of interest in this based in Hargeon. So I'd suggest there."

"Alright then," Rhea smiled, "we'll leave tomorrow!"

* * *

Ryusuke Yugure felt an itch in his neck. He didn't bother turning around, if you were being followed, you didn't let your pursuers know you knew. That would eliminate your own element of surprise. So he didn't turn, didn't change his pace, and continued his night-time stroll. He turned a corner that he wouldn't have usually taken, but his pursuers hadn't exactly been watching him every day. It wasn't on his way home, but he knew where he was going. That being into a side street not far from the corner he had just turned. Turning around, he began walking backwards, before hiding himself behind another corner. His two pursuers turned the corner he had just turned, to find the street devoid of any activity.

"Hey, where'd he go?" Her tone was hushed.

"He can't have gone far, Ana. You take that street, I'll go straight. We'll meet back here in half an hour."

"Okay, I've got it!" Ana crept carefully into the side street, moving slowly and silently, checking every crack and crevice for her escaped prey. She inched past Ryusuke's hiding place, and he pressed himself closer to the wall, hoping the shadows would keep him hidden. He knew how to make this situation on of his advantage, and it all hinged on the human impatience, the want to move on and find that for which they were searching. He hadn't survived for the best part of two years on the road by getting complacent in the middle of the night. Someone who was amazing at this would double check, and upon a second look, they'd see him. He wasn't very well hidden, and he knew it. Fortunately, she wasn't amazing. She was good, he could see this, her gaze flickering back and forth, taking everything in, but she wasn't good enough. She moved on. He waited a spell, before peeking around the corner, tight to a wall. She was still moving slowly forward. He checked for a rearguard, and upon finding no danger there, stepped out, his hand held ready on his katana. He debated staying silent and following her, but he wasn't really in the mood for a game of cat-and-mouse.

"I have two questions. One, who the hell are you? Two, why are you following me?" His voice pierced through the silent night like a knife. Ana immediately perked up, and slowly turned to see Ryusuke, his back to a wall, the entire street visible to him. He still, despite the situation, wore a nonchalant expression, even though his right hand was firmly poised to draw his sword. Ana smiled slightly.

"One. Your executioner. Two. To eliminate you." With these words, she launched herself at Ryusuke, poised to strike.

* * *

AN: I apologise for how short this chapter is, I really do. However, I was hit with writer's block about halfway through it, and it took a lot for me to get to this point. Still, it came out snappy, and quick-paced, so I'm pleased with that part. I have to get this out now because I have something special planned for Monday (keen readers will know why). So for today, you'll have to be content with this chapter and a character profile.

Character Profile:

Name: Rhea Yokoshima

Age: 19

Magic: Wind Magic/Illusion Magic

Likes: Ice cream, friends, chaos, movies, music, sunny days, walking

Dislikes: Hurting her friends, overly arrogant people, rain, false modesty, fire

Special skills: Causing chaos, conversation, hand-to-hand combat, annoying Ryusuke

Favourite songs: The Kill by 30 Seconds to Mars; God &amp; Satan by Biffy Clyro; Counting Stars by One Republic

Theme Song: Firefly by Breaking Benjamin


	7. Dusk Dismantled

AN: You know what? I'm not gonna give excuses, I can update when I want. However, I know you guys that are still reading this yearn for your fix, so I'm gonna make my update day Monday (my Monday, that is). I'll try my best to update every week, but if I don't, I apologise, but I'm either having some form of problem, or simply have other things I need to do. Going by my outline, this arc will be lasting up until chapter 13. But outlines suck and I'll probably ignore it for super-awesome extended fight scenes xD Anyway, thanks to LightandDarkHeart, QueenJJ, StitchedSanity, SaiyaStyles, Frozenblast13 and ManhattanTheory for your reviews, and onwards!

* * *

_Dusk dismantled, combustion's convergence with our existence!_

* * *

**Dusk Dismantled**

Ryusuke didn't waste any time in dodging. He slashed at the girl's obscured form, and watched as she, even charging, managed to gracefully duck underneath his blow, uttering one simple word.

"Miss." With this, she launched a leg at his midsection, a blast of clear blue energy cannoning into him, tearing up his clothes somewhat and forcing him back. He shrugged off his damaged coat and sighed.

"That's the second one this week… I didn't exactly plan on going easy on you before, but now you're in deep shit." He rocketed off towards her, magic building up in his left palm. "Twilight Spark!" The energy was released as a cone, expanding as it streamed towards the girl. Ryusuke prepared his blade for a heavy slash, intending to use the attack as a smokescreen. However, he really wasn't expecting what came next.

"Redirect." His attack was absorbed in its entirety into the girl's right hand. He slowed his rush, seeing something wrong with the situation. His instincts told him to move, and they were right. His attack was quickly released back out of her hand, bigger than it had originally been. It wasn't anywhere near his most powerful attack, but it didn't exactly tickle. He was already mid-jump when the attack was released, and he managed to clear it by a whisker. He definitely needed a new strategy. He wondered if she would be able to absorb an attack from behind? He didn't get time to test his hypothesis, however, as she was upon him the instant he landed.

"Ballerina." She span, and with unbelievable speed, roundhouse kicked him in the midsection. He fell to the ground. She stood over him, a victorious smirk on her face, ready to finish it. Ryusuke looked paralysed, and her attacks could be that dangerous: paralysing an enemy, leaving them as an easy kill. She reached for the ribbon around her, her smirk growing wider with every passing second.

"Twilight Fire!" With a wave of his hand, Ryusuke generated realistic flames, composed entirely of Twilight magic. They rushed towards the girl before she could react, burning her slightly, and forcing her to jump back as Ryusuke sprang to his feet. She snarled.

"You shouldn't have been able to get back up until I willed it…" the anger was visible on her face.

It was Ryusuke's turn to smirk. "The thing about techniques like that is that they can be overcome if you have enough magical power. And I have plenty to spare dealing with parlour tricks."

His comment caused another snarl, and she growled as she ran at him. His reaction was instant, Twilight Magic charging at the tip of his blade. Even as she ran, he finished charging. "Twilight Cannon." The energy shot forward at incredible pace, but to his surprise, she dodged it and continued on, unhindered. Unable to prepare a defence with her speed, he dodged her incoming strike. But it wasn't enough. She flipped over him, clenching her ribbon in her fist. Performing a graceful mid-air turn, she threw the ribbon towards Ryusuke as he turned to face her.

"Drill!" Ryusuke attempted to dodge her strike, but it turned out it had been a bluff, as the ribbon retracted and wrapped itself in a point around her hand. However, he couldn't stop his momentum now, and before he could react, she was upon him with a firm punch to the gut, ripping into the flesh of his stomach, and causing him to spew blood from his mouth. Seeing her opportunity, she took it.

"Pain!" Her hand again found a place on Ryusuke's midsection, and he screamed. The pain was horrible. Moving her hand almost too quickly for his eyes to follow, she touched him seven times in quick succession, each touch sending a wave of agony through his body. He felt as if each instance of minor contact was rending his very soul, and he dropped to his knees, able only to watch as her knee drove into his face, sending him sprawling backwards, blood flying from his nose.

"Fuck…" He tried to raise himself, managing to come into a sitting position before seeing a hand flying for his face. He was quick to roll out of the way, springing back to his feet with a visible grimace. He dropped to one knee, and she rushed towards him again. He felt too weak to do anything, so he merely took what was coming.

"Shoot." She shaped her fingers as if they were a gun, and jammed them into Ryusuke's midsection. The pain again flared through him, and a blast walloped him back into a wall, leaving a sizeable dent where his body impacted upon it.

He felt hopeless. He was in agony; he couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't even fight. He was being annihilated, and could see no path to victory. No weakness to exploit. He saw his enemy walking towards him, and somehow found the strength to stand again. He wasn't going down without a fight, and as he stood, he saw something that gave him new determination. He stood with new confidence, and as he walked to meet her face to face, he uttered a question that, in the middle of battle, could only be described as insane.

"Do you know what the thing about feet is?"

She smirked. An obvious gambit for distraction. She wouldn't let him capitalise, she wouldn't look at her feet. She continued strolling, knowing that she had taken most of the fight out of her enemy. It was soon time to finish this. No matter how resilient the man was, he couldn't keep standing back up, not with the pain he was in.

Ryusuke ignored the pain. He could smell victory. She had thought he was trying for a distraction, but that couldn't be further from the truth, and as he got close enough, he disappeared from view.

"Solar Sneak." He appeared in front of her, and stamped his foot, clothed with a heavy boot, down upon her bare one. He heard bones fracture, cartilage break, ligaments and tendons snap. He allowed himself a small smirk.

"They are incredibly fragile." Answering his earlier question led to a slash across the screaming girl's chest, her pain and shock too great to even consider countering. Her broken foot couldn't hold her weight, and so she began to fall. Her descent was abruptly halted by Ryusuke shoving his sword through her right shoulder, driving her into a wall and pinning her there. His hand not once leaving his blade, he tore off the girl's mask.

A ponytail fell from the mask down to the girl's waist, and half of her hair, including a fringe covering her left, blood-red eye was blue, whilst the rest was blonde. She looked around fifteen years of age, which had Ryusuke questioning how the hell she had gotten herself into assassinations.

"Okay, back to the questions. Name."

She merely snarled at him, obviously not happy to give an answer. So he decided to force it out of her. He roughly twisted his blade, hearing ligaments and tendons straining, ready to break. She let out a small scream. He hadn't exactly just stabbed and hoped for the best. He knew how to get to all the important parts in the shoulder. In short, he was tearing stuff up in there, and it wasn't exactly pleasant.

"I'll ask again. Name."

"Go fuck yourself." She spat in his face. He calmly wiped it away and went back to twisting.

"You have one more chance before I rip it out and go somewhere more sensitive."

The twisting caused her to scream as her shoulder was torn apart from the inside. She managed to grit her teeth and utter out two words. "Anialise Unom."

Her compliance caused him to stop with his 'persuasion' technique. "And why were you sent to kill me? Moreover, who sent you?" His grip tightened as he watched her pale. Blood was pouring from the wound, and it would get worse when he removed his sword. He hadn't pierced any major blood vessels, but she could still bleed into unconsciousness, especially with all the stuff he'd torn in there. Anialise took his tightened grip and hardened expression as a warning, and she wasn't exactly stupid.

"My guild sent me here, and you need to die to keep you out of the way."

"So a dark guild, then? More importantly, out of the way of what? Why am I in the way in the first place?"

She looked ready to answer, but time was not on Ryusuke's side. He felt a presence before it was there, and, withdrawing his blade from Anialise's shoulder, jumped back as a wakizashi flew through the space his chest had just occupied. He looked to see another woman garbed in the same attire Anialise had been, but slightly taller, her bust slightly bigger, and carrying a pair of twin wakizashis, both with blades just eighteen inches in length. He could see the anger in her eyes, and he couldn't blame her. She was, after all, obviously an ally of the girl he had just been torturing information out of. He wasn't optimistic about his chances here. He had just taken a massive beating, and Anialise's techniques had taken a lot out of him, and he was still feeling the effects of her pain spell. The newcomer slashed at him twice, and he Solar Sneaked backwards. His nose was broken, his stomach bleeding, and every nerve in his body was screaming. He wasn't an idiot, he had won by a fluke, and this woman had come in, completely fresh and prepared to fight. He was running low on magic, and coupled with his injuries, he wouldn't have a hope in hell of winning. So he did the only thing he could do in this situation. He ran like hell.

He didn't let up with his Shadow Sneak technique. It wasn't as fast as his Solar Sneak, but it could cover more distance, and so he would use less of his already depleted reserves maintaining the technique. He was already straining halfway to his destination, and could feel his magic slipping away. He was running on fumes. But he knew he had to get somewhere relatively safe. Somewhere that two assailants, clearly focused on stealth in their mission, wouldn't be able to get to him in his weakened state. He found himself in front of a familiar three-storey building, a pair of double doors in front of him. He threw them open, a loud bang coming from their impact with the walls alongside them. Wind blew at his back as he gazed out at the few incredulous faces in front of him. He didn't have time to ponder why people were still here before he lost consciousness, so he spoke.

"Get me a fuckin' doctor." He fell to his knees, and the world went black.

* * *

"Ana, are you okay?" The woman spoke with a level of concern in her voice, applying bandages to the wound in the girl's shoulder.

"I'm fine, Delia, he just caught me by surprise."

"Good, but we should rendezvous with the others. Markus has found something on the location of the Treasure, and we need to be able to intercept the mages when they come, since we failed here."

"I'll be fine, Ryo has that thing he does. Just help me get there, and I'll be happy to annihilate that guy next time."

"I'm afraid not," a glint of malice appeared in Delia's eyes, "he's mine."

"Why? Why can't I get my rematch?"

"He's clever. Clever enough to find a way to beat you without even using his magic, even when you'd beat him to a pulp. I can already tell I'll enjoy crushing him. Oh, and there's something you really need to do before you fight again."

"What?"

"Get yourself some goddamn shoes."

* * *

Bright lights shone upon him. He winced as he sat up, his tongue feeling like a carpet, his head spinning. He looked to his side, finding a glass of water placed on the bedside table. Upon inspection, he found that he was in the infirmary, and upon even closer inspection, saw a raven haired girl at the foot of his bed, arms crossed, foot being tapped impatiently. She didn't look happy.

"Wanna explain to me what the hell happened last night?"

"Why hello Rhea, yes, I'm absolutely fine." Sarcasm laced Ryusuke's words, and truth be told, he wasn't in the best of moods himself. However, his response didn't do him any favours with Rhea.

"Just tell me what happened, all of it."

So he did. He gave her every relevant detail, including Anialise's answers to the appearance of her ally, and his escape. She looked a little shocked, to say the least.

"So basically you know her name and that her guild sent her. Great. You're staying here."

"What the hell do you mean?"

"Look at yourself." Rhea dragged the covers from Ryusuke's body, and he saw his bare torso. A bandage looped across it, stained with his blood. Concluding that it needed changing anyway, he unwrapped the bandage from himself. He saw the hole Anialise's ribbon had drilled, and it wasn't exactly shallow. It was scabbed over, but it still looked nasty. However, he felt little pain from it, and he could feel that a fair amount of his strength had returned to him.

"I'm not staying."

"This isn't up for negotiation, Ryusuke. You aren't coming with us."

"These people are the enemy. I'm in the way? Sounds an awful lot like they're looking for something, doesn't it? Possibly the same thing that we're going for. And they sent two mages after me. There was no room for failure. If they could take me out before the mission, they'd have a greater chance at success. Make no mistake, these people are looking for the exact same thing we are. And they're no joke. That girl nearly had me beaten. I'm not letting you go without me, and that's it. We'll need every bit of strength we can muster to get past these bastards, and guess what? I have a fair amount of it myself."

"Not in that state you don't."

"Do we not have a healer?"

"The master usually does that, and she's at the Guild Mater's conference in Clover. So no."

"Then I'll live." With that, he dragged himself from the bed, righting himself and walking towards the door. "I'll be ready in an hour."

"Y'know, I think that was the most words you've ever said to me."

"I think it was the most words I've ever said to anyone."

* * *

Celeste growled. "What the hell is taking him so long?!"

"Maybe he passed out in the street?" Cyrus suggested.

"You're not helping," Dean sighed.

"We should just go without him, he'd probably only slow us down," Celeste said.

"Hey, his decision to come, and he's obviously still got some strength in him," Aster replied.

"You know that if he gets himself killed, you won't get your rematch, right?" Rhea asked, her expression uncharacteristically serious.

"He won't."

"Come on!" Came Ryusuke's voice from the door. "Time is money!"

"Then why the hell did you take so long?" Florence asked.

"Details."

* * *

"They're approaching our position."

"Then soon we'll make ourselves known. There will be no need to kill them, just defeat them. That will be enough to deter them, weaklings that they are. Anialise, don't let yourself get hit by a sneak attack like that again. The boy could have been dead by now if not for that.

"Of course, I'm sorry, Markus."

"I want the boy."

"And why is that?"

"After seeing him, I can't help but imagine how satisfying it will be to destroy him."

"Very well, he is yours. Deva, I want you to fight the Takeover man. Show him your superiority, force him into despair. I will make sure to annihilate the wind woman among them. The rest of you, fight among yourselves for your opponents."

* * *

"Don't make me knock your head off!"

"I'm not even entertaining this argument." Ryusuke sighed. He didn't even know how he'd managed to rile Celeste up this time. It seemed like his very existence pissed her off. The group was walking along a deserted brick road, in-between two towns. They had taken the train as far as possible, but to get to their next location, they had to walk.

"Ryu-kun, Celeste, stop it. Now." Rhea shot a glare at the two of them to emphasise her point. Celeste looked angered, and Ryusuke just gave her a flat stare before sighing. Maybe he should have stayed at home for this one.

"So where are we going?" Florence asked.

"No damn clue, we need to follow up on some info Bane found," Dean replied, watching as Celeste squared herself up to Ryusuke, Rhea having to get in the middle again. "Do those two ever stop?"

"I hope they don't," Cyrus laughed, "it's really damn funny!"

Rhea was about ready to snap. "Listen! Normally, I endorse this stuff, I even incite it. But right now, we can't afford infighting! The enemy could spring a trap at any moment, so we need to be serious!"

Ryusuke snorted. "So you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?"

"Your fault." Rhea let a wry smile grace her features.

"Why is it my fault?"

"For making me worry."

"Well I'm fine, so there's no need."

"Yeah, but Ryu-kun, I was really worried. I think I'm gonna have to punish you for that."

"Oh, god, what fresh hell is this?"

"You have absolutely no idea…" Her smirk was back in full effect. But, as things usually go, once an eye is taken off the ball, the proverbial shit hits the fan. That happened in an innocent black ribbon floating on the breeze. Aster was the first to notice it.

"Why's there a pretty little ribbon floating around?"

Celeste snorted. "_Pretty little ribbon?"_

"Shut up! I can describe things how I like!"

Ryusuke, however, turned, and instantly recognised it, paling at the sight. This was not good. Not good at all. He knew exactly who that ribbon belonged to, and it brought danger in its wake.

"Guys, get ready."

"For what?" Florence was genuinely puzzled. That is, until a large purple rift opened in the air in front of the group, with seven figures emerging from it. One was Anialise, and Ryusuke was sure he recognised the build of a woman stood there, grinning psychotically straight at him. She waved her hand and the rift disappeared. A large man with forest green, electrically styled hair stood in the middle of the group, and he laughed.

"For that." Ryusuke uttered, his body already tensed.

The man stopped laughing and spoke in a booming voice. "Mages of Angel's Breath, this as far as you come. I am afraid that your _noble_ quest comes to an end here and now. I will tolerate no obstacles to our goal."

Rhea laughed at the man. "Blow it out of your ass. You're not stopping us."

Ryusuke, meanwhile, was baffled, and turned to face Ana. "How the hell are you standing? I broke your foot."

A boy with waist length, electric blue hair spoke. "Adaptation. Her foot adapted to being broken, and evolved to be able to work normally whilst in that state."

The woman grinning at Ryusuke spoke next. "I'll admit, I didn't think someone walking with the light would be able to torture somebody, but it must burn you up that it meant nothing."

Rhea turned to Ryusuke, shocked. "You did that? Why?"

"To get answers. She had just tried to kill me, did you think I just had to ask nicely and she told me? Maybe had a little tea party?"

"Whatever. There are more pressing matters."

The large man spoke again. "My dear, I'm afraid that you and I must do battle now. Say goodbye to your friends. Darkness Devastation." A wave of darkness erupted from the man's hand, the group all dodging away in different directions.

"The name of the man who defeated you is Markus. Now experience despair."

* * *

"I am Akara," Florence's opponent said, "and I will electrify you."

He was of average height, with a slightly bulky build. His hair was a vibrant blonde, ending just above his ears, a fringe swept to the left. His eyes were hazel, and his jaw strong and chiselled. He was deeply tanned, and wore a yellow top, with light cream chinos and white shoes.

"Electrify me? Do you even know who I am? You're facing the Lightning Queen!"

"Lightning Queen? Don't make me laugh. Your lightning is not superior to my own. Bolt!" True to the name, a bolt of lightning shot towards Florence. She dodged. She was no Dragon Slayer, she couldn't absorb the element. However, she would have resistance. But, to her chagrin, so would her opponent. She wasn't happy with that.

"Lightning Cascade!" A cascade of lightning bolts erupted from Akara's hands, but Florence was prepared.

"Redirect!" The bolts turned from their original path and shot at great speed back towards the man from whom they originated. Akara was hit by his own attack, and visibly hurt. He was forced back, singed by the attack. Florence didn't let up.

"Thundering Storm, Heart of the Sky!" Dark clouds covered the previously blue sky, and thunder seemed to rumble from the incoming storm. "Lightning Eruption!" A seal appeared underneath Akara, summoning two larger than normal bolts to him. However, he was quick enough to dodge the attack, and even chuckled.

"Do you think that you're the only one whose attacks will be amplified by a storm? Lightning Eruption!" The same seal appeared beneath Florence, but she was hit by two bolts even bigger and quicker than her own. She fell to the ground, supported by her right arm, looking shocked.

"Surprised that I can use your attack?" He laughed. "I know exactly who you are, Florence Asellio. But it's Lancaster now, isn't it? Your father, Aurlianus taught me as well. I guess that, in a way, I'm your big brother now!" His laughter grew raucous, but Florence wasn't listening. She didn't wish to hear anything of her father. He had done what you shouldn't ever do. The Queen was royally pissed.

"Thunder Bombs!" She screamed, small blue orbs appearing in her hands, throwing them at Akara with great velocity. Her aim, however, was off in her anger, and it proved easy for him to dodge.

"Pitiful. I expected more from you, with the way Thade talks. Oh well, it's time to take you out. Lightning Wave!" A massive wave of lightning came from Akara's hands, engulfing Florence. She fell, unable to support herself anymore. It was over. She had lost.

* * *

"You're not the only Takeover Mage with access to mythical beings, you know."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean sneered.

"I shall show you, when the time comes. But for now, my name is Deva, and I shall be the one to defeat you."

"Spin on it." Dean launched himself forward, pulling a bowie knife from his belt loop. He slashed at Deva, but he was able to easily dodge. Dean slashed again, and this time Deva came from his dodge with momentum towards Dean, using it to strike him in the midsection. Dean jumped back, reeling from the heavy blow. It looked like he had no choice.

"Apocalypse Soul: War." He gained the armour and sword the War Takeover granted him, and he could feel himself being strengthened already. He rushed towards Deva, swinging his sword at the man. He performed a backflip, despite being a large man, his short crimson hair flapping. However, Dean managed to tear the man's crimson trench coat, forcing him to jettison it, leaving him bare chested. Deva smirked at him, and Dean decided it was time to kick it up a notch.

"Chaos Blade!" Red magic gathered around his sword, and he slashed it at his enemy. Deva dodged most of the blast, but was still nicked, and sent backwards.

"Well, well, well, little angel… it seems as if I'll have to get serious, especially if you keep coming at me like that."

"Just break out your big guns so I can beat your ass already."

"Very well, but when you lie defeated, you have no-one to blame but yourself. Deity Soul: Thor." He was shrouded in lightning, some of it striking out, forcing Dean to dodge. When he emerged, it was as a different man, it seemed. His hair was shoulder length and blonde, and he wore a Valkyrie helmet with wings on the side. He wore shining silver armour, and a red cape flowed from his back. Furthermore, he held a war hammer, with a small leather strap coming from the handle.

"Mjolnir!" He shouted, throwing his hammer at Dean. He barely had any time to react as the hammer smashed into his face, only saved from taking the full brunt by his helmet and increased endurance. Deva, however, didn't look to be done, as Mjolnir returned to his hand.

"Thor's Judgment!" He raised Mjolnir to the sky, and clouds gathered. Even as Florence's technique took to work, so did Deva's. His brought more substantial storm clouds, and looked significantly darker. Another difference: Deva's clouds rained lightning down on Dean, his armour conducting the electricity, and despite his increased endurance, he couldn't help but scream, and fall. That was it. Dean Arc: defeated.

* * *

"Anialise Unom, here to beat you into the ground."

"Cyrus Angelos, here to not give a shit."

Cyrus' snarky comment did naught but anger Ana she rushed towards him, her feet, despite one of them having been broken the night before, moving nimbly as she approached.

"Spear of Light!" Cyrus created a spear of pure light in his hand, throwing it straight at Ana. She flipped over the attack, and came down upon Cyrus.

"Jackknife." She shaped three of her fingers to a point, and jabbed them into Cyrus' chest. He felt the air leave his lungs, and it made him confused and disoriented. "Drain." With a touch, Cyrus felt weaker than ever before. Ana, however, both felt and looked incredibly energised. Cyrus wasn't about to give up, however, and readied himself to make a move.

"Radiant Beam!" The attack shot at Ana, but she once again flipped over it, annoying Cyrus. That would be the only moment of contemplation he would have, however, as Ana was quick to attack again.

"Pentagram" She turned into a blur, and Cyrus felt several pressure points being jabbed in quick succession. Ana appeared behind him in a crouch, and merely listened to the boy fall. That was it for Cyrus. He had been beaten.

* * *

AN: And there we have it! So, good back, average. Seriously, any comments, please drop a review for me, they make me happy, and criticisms help me improve. I'll also make sure to respond to every review, and answer any question you guys have (unless it reveals a later plot point). Anyway, this is probably the quickest chapter I've managed, I banged it out in about 4 hours, and I was quite happy with how it turned out. A 1000 word fight, and it takes Ryusuke about 50 to win, through Combat Pragmatism alone. Seriously, tropes. I count these things. I feel like more depth is coming to the story as time goes on (as is to be expected), but I hope you enjoyed what I did with Ryusuke here, and the story is likely to get more cynical as time goes on. Anywho, this is your author, signing off for an afternoon (yes you read that right) of sleep! Until next time.


	8. Eye of the Storm

AN: Okay, in case anyone wasn't clear on this: I am no longer taking OCs for the main guild. Civilians, villains, independent mages? Those I'll take. I literally edited this 9 times before I was happy. And I'm still not that happy with it, but I'm as happy as I'm going to get. Some of it feels rushed, but if I drew it out I'd throw off my pacing and ruin it. Anyway, it's Monday, so I'll just thank SaiyaStyles, Lightningpanda, ManhattanTheory, Queen JJ and BuffaloBill (who is in reality my friend and an idiot, but also the greatest critic of both my music and my writing) for their reviews and get on with it.

* * *

_We are caught in the eye of the storm, all that's left are just bodies to mourn..._

* * *

**Eye of the Storm**

"Steel spikes!" Celeste's opponent wasted absolutely no time in attacking her. It was a girl, no more than seventeen years of age, wearing a very short skirt and an incredibly high-cut tube top. She ran out of Celeste's line of sight. Where did she go? Celeste spun round. She saw nothing. Suddenly, a flash of electric blue across her sight. She saw nothing, only felt something as hard as steel impact her in the side, sending her flying away.

A boy with waist length hair the same colour as the girl's stood across from Aster. He sighed. "She's far too eager… my name is Ryo, and that girl is my sister, Cali. And I'm afraid that we're here to defeat you."

Aster grinned. "Yeah? Well we're not going down without a fight!" She struck out with a fist. Ryo leaned backwards, his hair swaying in the breeze. She wasn't about to give up, however. She jumped back.

"Stardust!" With a wave of her hands, a sprinkling of fine, shining dust sparkled through the air towards Ryo, giving him a confused look. Aster rushed towards him, palms outstretched.

"Starlight!" A beam of starlight shot from her palms, striking her opponent dead on. Ryo was forced backwards by the force of the attack, looking somewhat burned, his shirt hanging in tatters from his torso. However, Aster was quick to capitalise on her advantage.

"Shooting Star!" A massive beam of starlight shot from Aster's hands. It completely engulfed Ryo, who made no effort to move, dodge or counter the attack. Aster was a little confused. With such an intense attack, shouldn't he have at least tried to get away from it? The attack ripped a massive entrenchment into the terrain around three feet deep, even far beyond Ryo's position. She was sure that he must be dead, or at least seriously injured. That was one of her strongest spells, and it had scored a direct hit. She allowed herself a glance over, and saw Celeste, a wide smile on her face, going blade to blade with Cali.

Celeste was, indeed, having a fantastic time. She swung Tyrhung in one hand, avoiding Cali's strike to her throat before lashing out with a firm punch to the gut. Cali's abdominal muscles clenched, and she grabbed Celeste before throwing her backwards. She landed in a crouch, immediately rushing back towards her opponent. Gleefully, Cali rushed to meet her. Celeste's swing was uninhibited, and Cali caught it on her steel broadsword. With the two locked up, Cali gave a malevolent smirk.

"Steel blades." Celeste saw nothing, but she heard the clinking of steel behind her. She moved, and just in time. Several longswords of pure steel were flying towards the space she had just occupied. They stopped in midair, but turned to face her. Celeste's grin grew. With a harsh mental effort, she turned the swords around, and sent them rocketing at Cali. The girl dodged easily, and dissipated the weapons. Telekinesis. An attack used often with Sword Magic, in order to handle multiple swords. Since Gunblade Magic was a fusion of Sword and Bullet Magic, Celeste was a master. That trick wouldn't work on her. Cali flew at her, summoning a second blade in her offhand. She began furiously beating an offense at Celeste, who refused to budge an inch. Finally, under the relentless onslaught, Celeste jumped back. She threw Tyrhung with great velocity at a stunned Cali, and followed after her blade. The girl was stunned, and even as the blade pierced her shoulder, she still couldn't move as Celeste belted her with a fierce right hook. Cali fell to the ground and watched as the sword was pulled from her shoulder, with Celeste standing menacingly above her. Cali gave a wide grin. She was having a lot of fun, but it had to end.

"Steel Prison!" Walls of bladed steel surrounded Celeste, and her shock allowed for Cali to jump clear. When she was completely trapped, Cali gave a wide, sadistic grin. "Collapse." The construct collapsed in on itself, the great weight of sharp steel burying Celeste.

As the smoke cleared, Aster had to fight back shock, and dread. Ryo walked towards her, completely undamaged from her last attack. "How… how did you do that? It caught you, I saw it!" She was trying to steel her resolve and fight back panic. This man had taken one of her strongest attacks and emerged without so much as a scratch.

"Adaptation. How all living things survive. They adapt to their environments, and evolve to evade the dangers they face. That is the nature of my magic. I adapted to your first attack, and whilst it hurt me, my body became as good as immune to your magic. You should have led with the attack you just used; you probably would have killed me. However, it is time to face your fate. Goodbye." He ran at Aster, who threw a right-armed punch, but he dodged below it and placed his hand on Aster's heart.

"Adaptation: Danger Recognition." And with this, Aster's consciousness seemed to shut off, and she fell to the ground in a heap.

* * *

As she stood grinning psychotically at him, Ryusuke sighed.

"Okay, I'll bite. Why are you grinning like an axe murderer?"

Ryusuke hadn't thought it possible for her grin to grow any wider, but he was proven wrong. "I'm just thinking about how enjoyable it's going to be to crush you."

Drawing his sword, he sighed again. "Once we're done here, I have a psychologist I'd like to refer you to. Maybe he can figure out exactly what's wrong in that ridiculous head of yours."

She smirked, and drew her two wakizashis. "I'm Delia Yamamoto. You should know the name of the woman who's going to make you beg for mercy." She smirked, and then flew towards him. Her blades moved in a blur, and took all he had to keep up with their movement. However, he couldn't block them all, and several slipped through his guard. He jumped back, covered in shallow cuts, his landing unsteady. Delia merely smirked at him again. "You know, I'd like to know the name of the man I'm about to annihilate."

"My name? It's Yourself. Gofuck Yourself."

Her laugh was full of both humour and malice. "A joker? I'm really going to enjoy myself here!" With that, she launched herself straight at him, and he was forced to dive out of the way, He landed into a roll, but even as he sprung to his feet he was forced to dodge again, the blade of a wakizashi now occupying the space he had just vacated. She swung her other sword at his head, and he blocked with the blunt side of his sword. Jumping backwards, he prepared magic in his palm, and held it upwards.

"Twilight Spear!" A spear of Twilight Magic was formed, and threw it with blistering pace at Delia. Both of her swords slashed through it at the same time, and she again rushed at him. Blocking her strike, Ryusuke riposted and found himself blocked as well. The two were locked in a battle of melee combat, so intense that Ryusuke had no time to loose any magic. He stabbed forward at her midsection, then raised his sword to block a counter-strike aimed at his jugular. Delia flashed him a sharp-toothed grin and slashed with both of her swords in an X shape, forcing him to dodge backwards. She was quickly upon him, however, loosing a flurry of blisteringly quick blows, each matched with the speed of Ryusuke's own movements, blocking every strike.

Was she even fighting him seriously here? Could he even win this fight? He felt nothing but eagerness behind her blows, and yet he could tell that she was holding something back. But she was so quick! Perhaps even quicker than him, and if she was holding back, then what chance did he really have? He couldn't run, he couldn't leave his friends behind. He focused on blocking Delia, and as he riposted, he noticed that his speed, and his movement, was becoming familiar to her. She had read his combat style and gotten used to it. So maybe, just maybe… yes, that could work. He took a huge leap back.

"Running away?" Her smile betrayed naught but condescension, but he didn't care. Watching as she ran towards him, he charged energy at the end of his sword.

"You won't make it in time!" She increased her speed, and Ryusuke smirked. He had finished charging. As she reached him:

"Solar Sneak." He reappeared in a flash behind Delia, ready to loose his attack. He knew she'd be shocked, having become so used to the speed he had operated at. He allowed his smirk to grow wider.

"Twilight Cannon!" The energy burst at Delia's back. As it closed in on her at an alarming rate, she didn't move. Except for a wave of her hand. Ryusuke watched in astonishment as a dark purple rift appeared at her back and swallowed his attack right up. She turned and flashed her grin at him again. With another wave of her hand, another rift appeared behind him. His attack flew out at him, and hit him square in the back, sending him flying straight towards Delia. Using the back of her hand, she gave him a fierce slap that knocked him several feet to the side. He immediately sprung back up, a little more lethargically than he'd have liked, but she was gone. Another rift opened behind him, and he felt himself locked in a malicious embrace, a wakizashi perilously close to his throat, her warm breath gliding along his cheek.

She whispered into his ear, her voice tinged with excitement, sorrow and cunning all at once. "I could kill you right now, y'know. Slit your throat and be done with it." He shuddered at the feeling of her breath in his ear, and felt himself tighten up. "But I don't want to, I'm supposed to leave you alive anyway, but hurt you enough to deter you from following. But you'll come after us no matter what, and I want to fight you again, at full strength. It excites me." He felt her mouth twitch upwards. "So lie down, _and play dead._" The last part was hissed. She traced a blade across his unscarred cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood there, before kneeing him heavily at the base of his spine. He was falling even before she let him go. He wanted so much to get up. But he felt ashamed. He couldn't even put a scratch on this woman, and she had ended up _playing with him_. He knew he couldn't do anything, and if he kept fighting, he'd probably end up dead. He wanted to cry. He was helpless. He had pushed through his fear until the end, but now? There wasn't a damn thing he could do to keep it from bubbling up to the surface, threatening to envelop and overtake him. This woman terrified him, and he just felt like cowering with both fear and shame. So he stayed down, and he played dead.

* * *

"Illusion: Inversion!" As Rhea's spell took hold, Markus felt that something might be wrong. However, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, and that annoyed him. He looked to find the girl, but she had vanished.

"Behind you." He turned, and indeed, Rhea was behind him. He was shocked that she could move that quickly, but he shook it from his mind. The woman was powerful, and some impossible things could be done with magic.

"Windscythe!" Rhea waved her hand, and sent several high-density blades of wind at his left flank. He moved to his right, but almost instantly felt blades slashing into his back. He stumbled forwards, his back already bleeding. He smiled, before turning to face an empty space.

"That's a very impressive trick you have there, but I'm afraid that it will not work again. You cannot possibly believe that a sneak attack will work twice?"

Rhea grinned. "You sure you're not making a mistake fighting me? I can tell you, you won't last much longer! Windscythe!" He didn't see the projectiles approach, but he didn't need to.

"Pitch-Dark Tide!" A wave of darkness washed from his body, shattering Rhea's technique in its grip. Still she smiled, running at him.

"Can you fight an opponent in close quarters without looking at them? Windblade!" Still unseen to Markus, she created a katana of pure, compressed wind, and swung it at him one handed, slicing across the man's chest. He let out a grunt of pain, and turned. He knew she was behind him at this point, and he could adjust himself appropriately. He watched as she loosed a massive slash at him, and he dodged. At least, he thought he did. Feeling the blade biting through his flesh, he was proved wrong.

"As a mage, you train yourself to fight. You train yourself to dodge and block attacks, by recognising them. You train it, and then you experience it in battle, so much so that it ingrains itself within you and becomes your instinct. And as all fighters know, ignoring instinct in battle is the same as committing suicide. That also becomes ingrained within you, and you treat it as fact, so much so that it is impossible to ignore your instinct in a battle, since it can save your life. The instinct to dodge away from the blade that you see coming towards you." She grinned. "So what do you do when what you see is wrong? When in obeying your instinct, you are in fact delivering yourself into an even harsher blow than you would have taken if you had stood still? When all sense of your sight and hearing is reversed…" She swung again, cutting over the slash already present in his back, creating an X-shape. "There is nothing you can do." She couldn't see his face, but was sure he would be having second thoughts about this battle. Make her experience despair? That made her laugh. Loosing a horizontal slash, she watched in astonishment as he ducked under the blow. His mind was obviously clearer than she had thought it would be, but it didn't really matter. He turned to what, to him, was empty space, and smirked.

"Whilst this power is impressive, I can see its limitations. For instance, right is left and left is right, but neither can be up or down."

Rhea smirked, and while Markus couldn't see her, he strained his ears and heard her Windblade rushing through the air behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw that it was coming to his right. So he moved left. He cursed his mistake as he quickly flipped backwards and further left, Rhea's attack narrowly missing him. She was right: fighting like this was a hell of a lot harder than it seemed. Still, he could manage.

Rhea smirked at her opponent. As hard as he was trying, like with anyone, his instinct was letting him down, and there would be no way out of this battle. As he raised her blade high for a final blow, a wave of exhaustion overtook her. The blade dissipated, and she dropped to one knee. Loudly coughing up globs of blood, she watched as Markus stood and approached her. The spell had taken her to her limits, and she'd failed to force his surrender. She was out of time. A large fist impacted with her cheek, sending her sprawling across the hard ground. Markus stood over her menacingly.

"So girl… do you now understand despair?" The last thing Rhea saw before it all went black was his boot descending upon her face.

* * *

"So you all succeeded?" Markus addressed his six subordinates. They were all gathered a little ways away from their defeated opponents, looking down upon them.

"Of course, sir," Ryo replied, "what now?"

"Now," Markus said, "we collect the treasure and watch as mages of the light flounder hopelessly in despair. Delia, transport us. It is time we took our prize."

Delia waved her hand, opening a rift. All seven of them stepped through, and disappeared to a different space.

Ryusuke watched on as it happened. By his reckoning, he was the only one still conscious. Not good. However, he couldn't see anyone dead, despite his cowardice not allowing him to help them. This was good. Their unconsciousness buoyed him slightly; maybe they hadn't seen him cowering like a child staring at the bogeyman. Still, he had to help them. As he stood over Florence, he noticed burns, with the same pattern given by electrocution. He also crinkled his nose at the smell of a small puddle left right by her. Definitely electrocuted, he thought. He looked over to see a pile of rubble moving, and saw that it was, in fact, steel. Taking a quick look about himself, he concluded that it must be Celeste trapped underneath. He ran over, heaving massive chunks of metal from the pile, until the Arturia girl finally burst through, looking haggard, bruised and cut. Her lacerations were numerous, and spilled blood all over her body. But not much. She looked more angry than hurt.

"Where the hell did that bitch go?!"

"They left," he replied, looking away.

"Why didn't you stop them?"

"I couldn't."

"Why? Are you too weak?!" she taunted.

"Yes!" he snapped, "I am! Now help me get everyone else back up."

That had stunned her. Normally he'd reply coolly with some form of logic, like that there was no way he could take on seven strong mages by himself. She knew this, she just liked baiting him. She hadn't ever expected it to work. In fact, she felt a little bad now. There was obviously something wrong with him. She took her mind from this by walking over to Aster and shaking her roughly. The girl groaned a response.

"Aster, you okay?"

"I'll live," she replied with a small smile.

Dean's head was swimming. That had been a hell of a strike. And that Takeover… that had been something else. Deity Soul? Did he really have the power to contend with that? Did anyone have the power to contend with a god? His introspections were interrupted when he was a tangle of hair hanging from a scarred face above him.

"Good, you're awake. Help." With this, Ryusuke walked over to the unconscious Cyrus and kicked him lightly in the side, eliciting a grunt.

Soon, the entire team was gathered, all looking beaten and disheartened.

"What now?" Ryusuke asked, bitterly.

"Find out where they've gone," replied Dean, already setting off with a limp.

* * *

"I do remember such a group here, but I'm afraid I can't remember anything they said, I'm sorry."

Rhea sighed. She hated this kind of eyewitness. "Would a thousand jewels be enough to jog your memory?"

"I don't know," the man replied, "even with your generous offer, it's still all a little bit hazy."

They were all stood in an innocent enough, back-alley bar. It was a little run-down, which was kind of the point. After all, this was exactly the kind of place a dark mage would frequent. Dean rolled his eyes as he watched the man take a drink and pretend to search his memory. This was getting exhausting. They had been at this for hours, it was going dark, and on top of that, this man was trying to leech from them. Bane's leads hadn't exactly been helpful, either, giving them the square root of jack shit to work with. All in all, this was getting rather annoying.

"Okay, just what exactly would you need to be able to 'unhaze' your memory?" Rhea asked, exasperation evident in her voice. She was seriously tempted to just force it out of him.

"I don't know, little miss, that would all depend on what you could offer me…" His stoic look broke as he finally looked up and gave a lecherous smile. The meaning behind it was clear to everyone, and most blanched, disgusted at the very thought.

Except Ryusuke. He snapped instead. He grabbed the man by the neck of his shirt and hauled him up, slamming him roughly into the wall, snarling into his face.

"Listen, old man! We don't have time for your shit, so how about you tell us everything they said, right now, or I swear I will cut your fucking dick off and feed it to you!"

The man looked terrified, as if Ryusuke were a demon appeared in front of his face. "Th- they said that they could rest easy soon! That their prize was hidden near Era, and once they had it they could rest with the light at their feet! That's all, and I don't know what they meant I swear! Please don't hurt me!" He dropped the man on his ass, face as thunder.

"Doesn't matter, we do. Now scurry along, you pathetic little maggot, before I decide to cut your hand off." He did as Ryusuke told, and ran straight for the door. Rhea, meanwhile, looked slightly worried.

"Ryu-kun, are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"That doesn't seem like the kind of thing an okay person would do…" she placed a hand on his shoulder, but it was quickly brushed off.

"I said I'm okay, now let's go find somewhere to sleep."

"Hey, Ryusuke," Celeste piped up, "What happened in your fight?"

"I lost."

"Obviously," Cyrus snorted, "but we all did. So why are you acting like a frog crawled up your ass and died?"

"Because shut up."

"What, did she beat your personality out of you?"

"I said, shut up."

"Are you such an absolute paragon of uselessness that you'd let that happen?"

"Cyrus, that's enough, there's no need to-" Dean was interrupted by a thunderous Ryusuke getting straight into Cyrus' face.

"Say that again, I fucking dare you."

Cyrus didn't speak, but instead squared up to Ryusuke. The two stood in a stand-off for several agonising seconds, in a dark, dank back alley, as rats scurried about them. Suddenly, with no warning, Ryusuke's head snapped forward, connecting with Cyrus' nose with a sickening crunch, dropping him where he stood. He stormed away, anger seething through his veins.

But he wasn't angry with anyone else. He was angry with himself. How could he have let himself be so thoroughly defeated? How could he have let her play with his fear like that? And how could he have let himself give into it? His thoughts were merely entropy, chaotically swirling about rage and despair. A single tear slid down his cheek. He had struck out at someone that had become his friend, and why? Because he was feeling sorry for himself. He shook himself with a grimace, and heard footsteps approaching. He refused to look up. He didn't care who it was. That was before Rhea echoed his earlier actions, grabbing the neck of his shirt and pinning him to a wall behind him.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!" She was seething. "You do understand that you just knocked out your ally, your friend? What is wrong with you?!" Her expression softened. "I'm your friend, Ryu-kun. You can tell me."

Suddenly, it all came flowing out. "I'm useless. I'm a liability to you. I-I can't help you in any way, and I realise that now. You were right, I should have stayed home, because right now, I'm only getting in the way."

"What makes you say that?" Her tone was gentle, and she put him down, hands still on his shoulders. She wasn't about to let a man she'd come to know as she had him, a man who had become a close friend to her, go through something like this.

"I couldn't do anything. She was playing with me, Rhea. She beat me, almost without trying, and I couldn't even put a scratch on her. Then, when I went down, I couldn't even get up again! It made me feel useless."

"That's ridiculous, Ryu-kun. We all lost, there's no shame in that-"

"It was fear! I could have gotten back up, but the reason I didn't is because I was scared! I was petrified, Rhea, and it paralysed me. If I can't even push through my fear to fight, then how can I even fight in the first place? What if I had been the last? What if I had had to come to help you because you were about to die? What then, Rhea? WHAT THEN?"

She pulled him into her breast, her grip unyielding. "That didn't happen. There was nothing you could do, and there's no shame in fear. Even if that had been the case, she would've beaten you back into the ground. You're strong, Ryu-kun, so don't let this destroy you."

He pulled himself away from her, turning away. He began to walk away, Rhea looking distraught. She couldn't believe what was going through his head right now, and that she couldn't help him in the slightest.

"Ryusuke!" The aforementioned man turned, and saw Celeste charging at him at full pelt. "Let's see ya grit those teeth!" As she reached him, she lashed out with a furious right hook, dropping him to the ground. He raised himself to one knee, seeing naught but determination in Celeste's face. "Listen to me, and listen good! Everyone loses! It's not something you need to be ashamed of! When you're beaten, whether you're beaten into submission or terrified into submission, it doesn't matter! You just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on! If you can't stand it, and if it's that important, then you make yourself strong enough so that next time you win! You don't sit around wallowing in self-pity, thinking about what-ifs and could-have-beens, because dwelling on the past never gets anyone anywhere! You understand?!"

He let his features show a small smile. She was right. Sometimes, as much as an arm around the shoulder works, you just need a boot up the ass to snap out of something. "Yeah," he said, picking himself off the ground and walking over to the two females stood before him, "I understand." And he smiled.

* * *

AN: So, good, bad, average? Let me know folks! If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them, as long as they don't involve spoilers! Anyway, oh, Ryu-kun… I'm kinda putting him through hell right now, but for good reason. Sometimes, you really do need a good ol' kick up the arse to snap out of it, which is exactly what Celeste gave him. The sad thing about Rhea's fight: she would have won if she hadn't tried a demotivational speech. And hot damn, poor Cyrus! Man's taken a heavy blow, from his own ally no less. Anywho, I have two requests of you, my loyal readers:

I'm writing ahead, so when I come to the GMGs, I'm going to need it planned meticulously. So I ask of you now: suggest to me games, and match-ups! The preliminary is sorted, and if you want to see AB mages face anyone but you're not sure if they'll make the team, drop it in anyway! They might do! Oh, and feel free to suggest contestants for the S-Class exams, before I forget.

My summary sucks donkey sack. Would anyone be able to suggest to me a better one?

Anywho, until next Monday, I hope you enjoyed your regular instalment of Angel's Breath, and as always, I'll answer any questions as long as the answers don't give spoilers!


	9. God Can Bleed

AN: You know what time it is? IT'S NEW CHAPTER TIME! So the arc is getting into full swing now, although I feel like the cynical direction I'm trying to take this story in is in direct contrast to the Shounen-like battle after battle set-up. Ah well. Anywho, in other news, this story now has a TvTropes page! Feel free to go check it out! Anywho, on with your next regular instalment of Angel's Breath, after thanking ManhattanTheory, Lightningpanda, Queen JJ and PrinceOfTheMatrix88 for their reviews! And Guest for a late review on Chapter 6! (Well, 7 including the prologue :P)

* * *

_I'll show them that God can bleed!_

* * *

God Can Bleed

"Near Era. That's all we have right now," Dean stated.

"Near the Magic Council? It's a pretty bold move to go marching in right under their noses as a Dark Guild." Rhea rubbed the back of her head and sighed exhaustedly. The seven were gathered in an inn, all sat about Dean and Cyrus' room. It was modest, with a simple double bed, set of drawers and a chair, with a bathroom adjoining.

"Do you people not listen?" Ryusuke sighed. "It's hidden near there. Which implies that they obviously don't know it's there, and infiltration could be pretty easy. Anybody with a brain would hide it in a blind spot." Cyrus was glaring daggers at him, but Ryusuke paid him no mind. If the boy didn't want to accept his apology, that was up to him. He had broken his nose, after all.

"Ryusuke, we're not idiots. Don't talk to us like we are." Florence's voice was frosty, and she joined Cyrus in glaring at him. Once again, however, Ryusuke didn't pay it any mind.

"When you're all missing the obvious, there doesn't seem to be any other reasonable inference."

"Maybe it's not obvious to us! Did you ever consider that?" Celeste's voice was raised, and she looked somewhat offended.

"Which would make you an idiot."

"Ryu-kun, stop being antagonistic. You're beginning to make _me_ want to hit you now." The corner of Rhea's mouth turned up at him, but it didn't put him any more at ease. However, he swallowed his pride, and allowed the discussion to continue.

"So hidden near Era? How the hell do we know where to go?" Cyrus gave an irritated snort, propping himself up in a sitting position by his hands.

"He's right, we don't even know what radius we're operating on!" Aster's sigh was exasperated. She was just about ready to give up.

"Maybe we could just wait for them to grab it, and then attack when they show up?" Dean suggested. He was growing increasingly exhausted as well.

"No, that won't work, they could do unimaginable damage before we even found out about it," Rhea responded.

"Maybe, but we don't even know what it does yet!" Florence countered.

"Hope for the best, plan for the worst," Ryusuke grunted, rifling through drawers. Rhea turned to him.

"Ryu-kun, what exactly are you doing?"

"Looking for something," he replied. "That's not it. Nope. Aha! Here we are." He returned to the assemble, dumping a folded piece of paper onto the bed, before opening it up to reveal a map of the vicinity of Era.

"That's weirdly convenient," Aster piped up.

"There's one for everywhere in the damn country in there." He took a marker from an inside pocket and began drawing circles around specific areas. Ryusuke took in the glances of his companions and answered the unspoken question. "Blind spots. Basically places where the Council don't have active surveillance, although their scanners can still pick up active anomalies, such as lacrima, like the Treasure is supposed to be."

"So how can it be hidden in any of these places? Surely the Magic Council would've found it by now." Cyrus still glared at Ryusuke, his voice biting.

"Shielded. Although to build something that would shield from the scanners would show as an anomaly, so it would be investigated. Which basically means it's a natural blind spot, something they don't know about or see as a threat." He pointed to one specific circled area, near a clustering forest. "Here. There are lead deposits in the ground. That would interfere with the scanners, something no amount of magic can rectify."

"Underground!" Dean realised.

"So we're looking for one or more buildings in the area, probably unobtrusive, that would have secret passages to an underground base," Rhea explained. "Everyone go to bed, we're leaving an hour past daybreak. They'll probably be basking in their victory right now, taking their time. So we need to strike early, and give ourselves the element of surprise." She then gave a disarming grin. "So we can kick their asses to hell and back!"

* * *

Of course, being the relative loner of the group, and the newcomer, Ryusuke's sleeping arrangements weren't decided by himself. Four rooms were available, so there had been doubling up. Florence, of course, being _her highness, _had opted to take her own room, and so pairs were allotted by what seemed to be a buddy system. Celeste had partnered with Aster, and Cyrus was rooming with Dean. Not that he minded that, of course. What he did mind was the fact that he was stuck with Rhea. And after his day, he really didn't want to have to put up with her questioning everything he had done. Even if he himself considered most of his actions questionable himself.

"You're really not the person I thought you were." She sounded almost disappointed, and Ryusuke felt a twinge of guilt, and he felt it was reminiscent of another idealistic woman he held in particularly high regard.

"No, I'm not. I'm a friggin' grown-up."

"You know, you shouldn't be so cynical." Her voice was serene, and it calmed him. Even more déjà vu.

"And who the hell are you, the philosophy police?"

She chuckled, before her expression turned dark. "Just what possessed you to do things like what you did? Torturing somebody, threatening someone? For what? Information?"

"Sometimes, the right thing doesn't always coincide with being all nice and goody-fucking-goody. The world doesn't work that way. Grow up, Rhea." His voice was calm, and no malice was intended whatsoever. But that didn't mean she didn't take offence. Wearing a slightly scorned expression, she slapped him, hard, across the cheek.

"Just who are you? Are you really my friend?" As he stared into her piercing eyes, he felt guilt wash over him. What the hell was he doing? He was hurting his friends like this. And why? There was no reason to excuse his actions, he knew he was doing the right thing.

"What about Cyrus? Was that the right thing?" Her question probed at him, and he almost felt her eyes searching his soul. He felt something stir inside him, and gave an involuntary shudder.

"No. Not in a million years could I justify that. I lost control of myself." He began shaking, his fists clenched at his sides. "I'm sorry, Rhea, but this… this is who I am! I don't care what people think, so long as I'm doing the right thing!" The air in the room was palpable. Staring into her eyes again, he felt himself inexplicably drawn towards her before he looked away in shame. Her expression softened, and she embraced him.

"I guess I was a bit too harsh, I haven't known you long enough to see all of this after all. Nothing can change the fact that you are who you are, and at the end of the day, that is my friend. I want to know you, Ryusuke. Even if I might not like some parts of what you are, I'll stick with you. Because I know that you're a good person." She disengaged her embrace and stared straight into him, a small smile adorning her face. "Even if you are too damn cynical for your own good."

Her smile seemed to be infectious. "Thank you, Rhea." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess that, well, you intrigue me, and hell, I like you. So I guess I'm glad I'm not alone."

"Good," she grinned, "now it's time for sleep!" She stripped off until she was wearing nothing but her underwear, and slipped on a pair of black short shorts and a navy bikini top. Ryusuke's cheeks darkened slightly upon seeing her flawless, toned body. He tried averting his gaze, but really, how could he not look?

"See something you like?" She flashed him that disarming grin again, and he quickly looked away, covering his face with a hand.

"Um, bed!" He quickly set up on the floor, and Rhea gave him a quizzical look.

"The hell are you doing?" She threw off the covers on the unoccupied side of the bed before climbing in herself and patting the empty space. "There's a perfectly good bed here, Ryu-kun!" Her smile may have been innocent, but her eyes betrayed her deviousness, and Ryusuke discovered why when he found himself blushing furiously, his cheeks beet red.

"Um, well, um…" he stuttered.

"What's the matter?" Her voice was silk upon his ears. "You a prude, Ryu-kun? Get in bed."

He stumbled over, discarding clothes until he was only in his boxers. Taking care to hide his crotch from her vision, he slid in next to her, lying on his side facing away from her and screwing his eyes shut. Before darkness descended, he felt her satin voice assault his hearing again.

"Sweet dreams, Ryu-kun." He could practically feel her grin, and he could only think one thing at this point in time.

"Yeah, night, Rhea." Was this torture some form of punishment?

* * *

Celeste lay awake, wondering about how she was going to defeat her opponent. "Hey Aster?"

"Yeah?" Aster replied groggily.

"That guy you fought, you said he adapted to your magic, right?"

"Yeah, it was pretty surprising. My last attack did absolutely nothing to him."

"You shouldn't fight him again."

"Why not?" Aster turned over to face Celeste.

"What if he's still adapted to your magic?"

"Well, yeah, but there's no guarantee we can just pick our opponents."

"So we stick together. He'll probably be with that crazy sister of his. As much as I want to fight her, I think if we run into them rather than anyone else, we should switch."

"What's with all of this? Why do you want to switch so suddenly?"

Celeste grew slightly red. "Well, because… because I wanna fight that guy! I'll enjoy it!" That was a lie, but Aster didn't know that. She hoped. "Aster, this is serious. We have to give it our all, and you can't against that guy, since he can take everything you have without blinking." In reality, she was worried for her friend. But she was too proud to admit it.

"But won't he just adapt to you as well?" Aster was worried about Celeste as well. Hell, she was worried about everyone. But that man had some seriously debilitating magic. She didn't know how anyone could win.

"I can use multiple types of magic. Besides, if all else fails, I can just beat him into the ground!"

Aster chuckled. She guessed it would be fine after all.

* * *

Ryusuke was troubled. "Hey, Rhea. You asleep?"

"No," she replied, "no thanks to you and all that tossing and turning. What's up?"

"How the hell are we gonna win? Last time we fought these guys we had our arses handed to us on a plate. Can we even win?"

She laughed. "Of course we can, you idiot. We know what they can do now, we're not going in blind, so we can plan against them and beat them."

"I guess so." How he wished he could share in her optimism. "By the way, I saw that speech you gave Markus. I don't care what your ideals are, but you can't do that against an enemy like that. You just have to get in there and beat him as quickly as possible."

"I know, he's not gonna give up, but I still feel like I have to try. There can always be a peaceful solution."

Ryusuke tried not to snort. Sometimes, there was no such thing as a peaceful solution.

* * *

"Hey, Dean…"

"Don't talk. This is weird enough as it is."

"Jeez, alright…"

* * *

"We should probably split up." Ryusuke stood among the group, who were stood surveying a bleak landscape, the day overcast. A small wooded area was behind them, and what they saw in the flat terrain was three small, unobtrusive stone buildings, placed equidistant apart as corners of a triangle.

"Shouldn't we stick together?" Dean asked. "What if we run into all of them at once? How are we supposed to win?"

"One fundamental rule of group combat," Ryusuke explained, "do not present your enemies with one big target. Besides, we're not here to beat them all in a fight, we're just here to take this Treasure from under their noses and get back to the guild. Once it's safe, there's nothing they can really do."

"I guess I get it," said Rhea, "but how would we know when to abandon the fight?"

Ryusuke sighed. "Ideally we'd avoid combat altogether, but I guess each group should have a specific signal to let off if they find it, which could be difficult if we're underground. I guess we just wing it, if you feel like you're getting beaten, then run away and we'll rendezvous at the train station we arrived at two hours ago. Clear?"

Celeste blanched, looking horrified. "You want us to run away? What the hell?! Why in the name of sanity would we do that?!"

Ryusuke stared straight at her, his tone harsh. "What do you value more, your pride? Or your life?"

Celeste was dumbstruck. She tried to speak, but only managed to splutter.

"I guess what he's trying to say," Aster began, "is that we should run if we're about to be killed."

Ryusuke nodded. "Fighting basically buys the other teams time to find it and get the hell out. There's no need for you to get killed over a distraction."

"Hold on!" Cyrus protested, "who the hell put you in charge?!"

Ryusuke glanced to him, expression deadly serious. "The people with brains."

"He's not kidding," Rhea explained. "He has a seriously sharp tactical mind. Roped me into a game of chess once, then took my ass to the cleaners. So I'm letting him do this part."

Cyrus grunted, but it came out more like a growl. "Fine then. Oh great chessmaster, who goes with who?"

"With the strength of these opponents, we're gonna need team chemistry," Rhea said, "so I guess that you'll go with Florence and Dean."

"That sounds good, and you three," Ryusuke pointed at Rhea, Aster and Celeste, "will go together."

"And what about you?" Aster asked, concern spread on her face.

"I work best alone." His was a tone that brokered no argument, his expression dark. But Rhea wasn't about to let this slide. Even as he began walking away, she called out to him.

"What do you value more, your pride? Or your life?"

"This isn't a matter of pride," he sighed, "it's a matter of efficiency."

"Dude, are you suicidal?" Dean barked, almost at the end of his rope with the situation.

"Let him go," said Florence, "if he wants to get himself killed so badly, I guess it isn't any concern of ours." She waved her hand flippantly. Nevertheless, Rhea followed after him, stopping him with a hand upon his shoulder.

"Do you really think you wouldn't be better off for my help?"

He sighed. "Not as much as Aster and Celeste."

"The two of them together would be stronger than you alone. So either you're really arrogant, or you don't want me there."

"Fine. But I won't take any complaints about the way I fight. I'm not gonna change my ways just because you shout 'killing isn't the answer' at me."

She laughed at him. "Alright then. But I hope you realise that killing actually isn't the answer?"

He sighed. "I regret this decision already."

* * *

"Like flies into a web…" Akara grinned. He watched a monitor as it showed Florence, Dean and Cyrus descending a staircase.

"Did they realise we were expecting them?" asked Ana, smirking.

"Probably not," he replied, "they're just idiotic legal mages. Like they'd have a clue about going into a real battle rather than just a fight."

"Akara." Deva walked into the monitor room, finding his compatriots smirking at the situation. "I have told you many times not to underestimate our opponents. They will fall, yes, but it will not be as easy as last time. They know what to expect this time, so be alert when fighting."

"Whatever? Can I kill her this time?"

"You may not. Thade expressly requested that if that girl appears, she is to be delivered to him, alive." Akara's smile fell to a scowl hearing Deva speak these words. "But if you fight any of the others, do with them as you wish."

"So what's the plan?" Ana began. "Do we take them all on at once or separate them?"

Deva chuckled. "We were told to force them into despair before finishing them. And so we shall."

* * *

"So what's the plan?" Florence had no idea that she was echoing Ana.

"They'll be expecting us, obviously, so we don't have the element of surprise. If we can stick together, great, then switch if you start to have trouble. But we have to be prepared for them to split us up as well. So pull no punches. Go straight for the jugular. Beat them quickly. Try not to let it turn into an attrition battle, because then there's no telling what your chances of winning are." Dean's strides were long and confident, easily keeping pace with his two teammates. They were walking through a corridor in what appeared to be a labyrinthine bunker. The walls were gunmetal grey, spaced just wide enough apart to walk three abreast. That was the safest way. However, Dean was having doubts about it being used as a battlefield, as the ceiling was only around eight feet high, which would seriously hamper manoeuvrability. However, this would work the same for their opponents. Dean suddenly stopped, holding out a hand to warn his companions against advancing any further. He slowly entered an open door, hearing it slam shut behind him. As he turned, he saw Deva, readying himself for combat.

"Well, boy, I certainly didn't think you and your friends would be brave enough to come back and challenge us, and yet here you are. Are you sure you wouldn't like to invite them in to join us?" Deva erupted into a laugh.

"They wouldn't be able to handle you," Dean responded.

"And you can?" Deva challenged, "you are as a cornered rat right now, my dear Angel…"

Dean allowed himself a small smirk. "Don't you know?" Magic began coalescing around his form, swirling in patterns previously unknown to any human being. "It's when cornered," he raised his arms, "that a rat fights its hardest! Apocalypse Soul: Famine!"

* * *

"I'm afraid that Deva will be fighting your friend alone." Akara grinned at Florence and Cyrus.

"D'you really think you can beat both of us? Don't be so arrogant! You're facing the Lightning Queen!" Florence wore a determined expression, but Akara merely laughed.

"And just how did the Lightning Queen fare the last time we fought? I'm sure that your majesty thinks you can win, but the fact is that you don't stand a chance in hell!"

"We'll see how that works out, won't we?" She stared a hole through Akara, but he merely grinned back at her.

"Shit!" Cyrus shouted, dodging an attack from Ana as she rushed to Akara's side.

"What do you say we split this party up? I don't feel like playing with him right now, but you…" he licked his lips. "You're right up my alley."

Ana rushed Cyrus again, grabbing him and throwing him through another doorway. He crashed through the door, and it slammed as soon as she entered after him, leaving Florence alone with Akara. She clenched her fist, sparks jumping around them.

"Lightning Eruption!"

* * *

This time, he thought, this time I'll win! He drew the katana from his back and slashed at his opponent. She jumped back, landing gracefully in a three-point stance before rushing at him again.

"Jackknife!" With three fingers narrowed to a point, she struck towards him. He dodged to his left, slashing out again. He scored a small scratch along her cheek, allowing himself a small moment of celebration before rolling away from her latest attack.

Great, he thought. I can actually hit her! If she isn't too fast for me to hit, then I can win this! With this, he struck out again, refraining from using magic for the moment. Her jump was narrow, but she landed on his blade, kicking out at his face with the sole of her bare foot. He was knocked backwards, and she took the opportunity to attack again.

"Para!" She punched his torso five times in a pentagram shape, causing him to stand motionless for a second, swaying. "Don't think that you can beat me just because you scored a single scratch. Take your head out of your ass!"

Cyrus smiled, much to Ana's astonishment, before raising his sword again in a guard. "I guess Ryusuke was right when he told us…" he gave a lopsided grin. "When he told us that your spells can be counteracted if you have enough magic power!"

Ana rushed at him again, slightly nervous now. Obviously the boy was more powerful than she had given him credit for, but she wouldn't let that stop her. Punching out, she watched as, with great effort, Cyrus dodged to the side, stabbing at her face. She flipped back away from his strike, moderately surprised.

"Damn," Cyrus panted, "this is hard! You definitely pack a punch, but you're not gonna win here! It's just too damn important that I beat you! Spear of Light!" He formed the radiant spear in his hand before throwing it towards Ana with great velocity. She moved quickly, but not quickly enough. The spear grazed her side, causing her to fall off balance, which allowed Cyrus to strike forwards and slash at her torso. However, Ana couldn't be counted out just yet.

Cyrus' movements were still sluggish, and he knew it. It was taking great effort to overcome Ana's magic, and it was taking a great toll on him. But he had to carry on, for his friends, and probably for the world. He might not have acted like it, but he did care about his friends. Even the bastard that broke his face. He knew he was an ass, and he probably deserved that. Didn't mean he had to be happy about it. In truth, it upset him that he could have that effect on people, at any time, never mind when the guy was going through his own shit. He didn't even know the guy, it was just sort of a team born of convenience. Hell, he barely knew any of the group except Dean and Florence, and that was because Florence had forced herself and Dean on him. But that didn't mean he didn't care. And losing here would give the enemy a significant advantage, in another person to join another fight, which could quickly snowball. So he had to win here, or at least incapacitate her. No pressure, then.

"Light Bullets!" Holding out his palms, he shot small busts of light continuously at her. She rushed onwards, deftly avoiding every one of Cyrus' projectiles. She took her ribbon, wrapping it around her hand.

"Drill!" Driving the point of the tensed ribbon into Cyrus's torso, she twisted in the manner of a contortionist, kicking him in the back of his head. He stumbled forward just as Ana removed the ribbon from his torso, blood seeping from the wound he currently held his hand on.

"Pretty soon, your entire body's gonna be as mashed up as your face." Ana smirked. This was only just beginning.

* * *

Akara jumped to his left, smirking at Florence all the while, even as her attack sailed past him.

"ThunderClap!" Both combatants shouted their attacks and clapped at the same time. The two resulting shockwaves met in-between the two and cancelled each other out.

Akara gave a malevolent grin. "You should feel lucky, you know. I have special orders not to kill you, and take you back to Thade when I'm done beating you."

Florence growled. "I don't know who the hell that is, but d'you know what? I don't want to know! I don't care, and I won't ever find out, because I'm going to beat you!"

He laughed mockingly. "Beat me? I'm sorry, but there is only one monarch of the element of Lightning, and that is me! You cannot possibly win!" His laugh grew manic as he threw a bolt of lightning at Florence. She dodged to the side, just as he anticipated. He converged on her location, his grin manic, and let loose a flurry of lightning-imbued punches. She couldn't dodge all of them, and once one hit, she was done. She took a beating, there and then, and fell to the floor.

"Ready to give up yet? Surrender and you don't have to suffer pain anymore! And I'm not even allowed to kill you, so you may as well." His expression grew dark, and his grin even more malicious. "Because you have absolutely no chance of victory, dear Florence."

She stirred, managing to raise herself to her feet, still slightly bent double, her fists clenched, as well as her teeth, in fury. "You're telling me that I should abandon my friends? What, so you can kill them? So you can end the lives of the people I care about? And you think that a little bit of pain is enough to make me give up on helping them?" her face was scrunched with rage, and she began trembling, her next words screamed. "Don't fuck around with me!" She launched herself forward, hitting Akara with a barrage of strikes. He simply couldn't keep up with her movement, and ended up taking most of the hits, unable to even move under the intensity of the attack. When Florence finally let up, Akara fell, looking up to see a gleeful, insane expression upon her face.

"I'm gonna destroy you slowly!"

* * *

"Oh, one I haven't seen before? What, are you going to make me hungry?"

Dean stood in a simple, full-body cloak, dusty, black and seemingly tattering away. Even with no wind, it stirred around his legs, as if it had a mind of its own. Interestingly, he also wore a full facemask, with a vertical line cutting down the centre, splitting it into two halves of white and black. He had two intricately carved daggers upon his person, and he wasted no time putting them to use. He rushed towards Deva, swiping both daggers one after another at the man. He dodged them both, coming back into a relaxed standing position.

"Very well, I suppose that if you're fighting seriously, then I really have no choice. Deity Soul: Loki." A bright light shone around him, and as it disappeared, he was now wearing what appeared to be an interestingly coloured jester's outfit. His hat was green and curved to a point, and he wore light leather armour over a green robe, striped with different shades of the colour. He grinned. "Loki Laufeyson. Son of two Jötunn, yet still held amongst the pantheon. The trickster God. Tell me, do you really think you can defeat a God?"

Dean chuckled. "You being a god is about as likely as me being the next king of Fiore." His expression turned into one of pure determination, and he gripped his daggers harder. "Besides, even a god can bleed!" He ran towards Deva, slashing again, however, he put out his right palm and let loose a smirk at Dean. "The _trickster_ God. Illusion."

Dean suddenly slashed through nothing, leaving him confused. He could swear his opponent was still there. Until he felt a clubbing blow to the back of his head, that is. He stumbled forward, and suddenly saw nothing in front of him. However, a swift hit to his nose sent him flying backwards, landing on his backside. He jumped up and away just in time to avoid Deva's boot descending on him. Unseen, of course.

Deva was laughing now. "Hahaha! The trickster God! In this form, I can control Illusion Magic! You're finished, pathetic little Angel!"

Dean merely glared at him, before smirking slightly. "Didn't I tell you?" he rose to his feet. "A rat fights hardest," he said, preparing an attack. "When it's cornered! Drought!" The heat of the room suddenly increased massively, leaving Deva instantly drenched in sweat. On top of this, the room was quickly becoming increasingly arid and dry, and he felt his throat began to scratch, his tongue as a carpet. He needed water. But he could definitely wait until he had dealt with this problem. Of course, his thirst presented issues, not least of which was the fact that his illusion magic had apparently been stopped in his distraction, which meant that Dean was rushing forward at great pace with his dagger aimed at Deva's heart. It was only an instinctual reaction that saved him, but Dean's dagger still lodged itself in his ribs before being ripped out raggedly, causing him to spew blood from his mouth. He staggered back as Dean came around for another attack and batted away his arm as the dagger slashed at his abdomen.

"That's it! Face the son of Loki, the all-powerful! Fenrir!" A huge wolf, easily as tall as a man, at least fifteen feet from nose to tail, materialised behind Dean. It was grey, with black ear tips, and its claws were as long and looked as sharp as the sharpest dagger, with its fangs glistening with saliva and poking out of its mouth, twelve inches long and awe-inspiring. It lunged at Dean with incredible pace, and he couldn't completely dodge. Its fangs pierced his flank, tearing out a chunk of his flesh, causing blood to fly everywhere. It jumped up, flooring Dean, and snapped at his throat. It took everything he had to keep it from tearing out his jugular, but he could feel his strength failing to hold the great beast back. Deva looked on with smugness, knowing that this was his victory. However, sometimes the unexpected occurs. Dean stabbed into its eye, causing the beast to howl in pain, writhing and thrashing in a hope of finding some reprieve. Dean pulled the dagger out and thrust his hand into Fenrir's mouth, driving the dagger into the roof of the beast's mouth and its brain. It fell limp, and dematerialised. Upon its disintegration, Dean stood, panting. He glared at Deva, who merely smirked. He wasn't finished yet.

"Fenrir nearly defeated you, so let's see how you fare against something even stronger, Loki's strongest child! The one to defeat his brother Thor, and his arch-nemesis! Loki's Judgment!" A huge coil of smoke encompassed the entire room, converging into a massive serpent, its coils barely contained by the walls. With it constricting him merely by its presence, Dean was finding it hard to breathe. "The World Serpent… Jörmungandr!"

Dean could barely see for the massive scales moving around him. It took a second to register that the huge serpent was moving, and he soon found himself staring into a huge pair of empty orbs. They looked like miniature imitations of the earth, and the serpent bore its fangs at Dean, and hissed.

Deva laughed. "It is said that Jörmungandr is the Midgard serpent, so massive that it is coiled around the world. The arch-nemesis of Loki's brother Thor, and when it lets go…" he stopped laughing, but a grin remained. "The world ends. Soon it will coil around you, and when Jörmungandr lets go of you… you will die!"

Dean snarled at Jörmungandr, and at the unseen Deva. He had had enough of this guy's crap, and he decided that it was time to kick it up a notch. "Apocalypse Soul: Pestilence!" His clothing changed to a tan trench coat and black pants, but the rest of his body was covered in linen bandages, as if he was mummified. Only his hair stuck out, and there was a small gap for his eyes. He stared straight into the blank eyes of Jörmungandr, and chuckled. "It's over for your little pet!" Even as the serpent began to painfully engulf him within its gargantuan coils, Dean was preparing his spell. He had to get this right. "Overload!" Jörmungandr began hissing uncontrollably, flopping off Dean and flapping about on the floor. Purple smoke streamed from its jaw, and when the smoke stopped emerging, Jörmungandr lay still. The World Serpent: defeated. Glaring at Deva, Dean paid no mind to the disintegrating serpent laid about him. Instead, he prepared another spell to throw at his enemy, before acknowledging Deva's snarl.

"What do you do now that I've beaten your pets? Is that it?"

"Hardly," Deva growled, "we have only just begun! You may have pushed me this far, but it all ends now! Deity Soul: Odin!"

* * *

Florence was relentlessly beating Akara down. He had no time to respond as she landed blow after blow, each sapping a little more of his strength and his will to fight. He grunted as each blow landed, and Florence laughed with an unending glee. She was seriously enjoying every moment of this, and only regretted that it had to end at some point. She still had to keep her friends in mind, after all. She landed more blows, not even paying attention to her actions anymore, only to the pained expression on Akara's bludgeoned face, and the pain in the noises he was making. She loved every second of his pain right now. He who intended to harm those she cared about? He needed to be taught a lesson. However, her attention not on her blows, she didn't notice that she was slowing down; Akara, however, did. He slid away from her, springing to his feet. Florence followed his action not a second later, manic smile still upon her face.

"Bolt!" he shouted, firing a lightning bolt at Florence. He was dumbfounded, however, when she merely batted it away with her hand, and rushed towards him, For the first time in a very long time, Akara felt real, bone-chilling fear. "Lightning Eruption!" he screamed, the seal appearing beneath Florence. However, she jumped clear of the striking lightning, her fist raised as she grinned straight at Akara. With a roar, he jumped up and caught her mid-flight. Throwing her away, he readied himself to scream, but saw her rise again, and grinned.

"I won't let you hurt my friends," Florence said, her grin still present.

"With what I'm about to do, I don't see how you can stop me!"

"I'll destroy you no matter what!"

"We'll see about that…" he grinned. "Hell's Fire!" He let loose a bone-shattering scream, and his feet sunk into the ground. He gave an inhuman grin as blue flames began to coalesce behind him, coiling into the shape of a snake. Florence nearly screamed in terror. Her memories of this spell weren't exactly fond ones. However, she steeled her resolve. There was only one spell in her arsenal that could defeat this; a spell that she had forbidden herself from ever using, thanks to its sheer destructive power. Despite this, it was use it or die. And she didn't feel like dying on that day.

"Hell's Fire!" She screamed, her scream piercing. She sunk as well, and the same serpent of blue flame appeared behind her, even as Akara's began to shoot towards her. Her Hell's Fire shot off straight at Akara's at a much greater pace than his, so much so, in fact, that the two spells met in the centre of the two combatants, skewed a decent distance towards Akara. The resulting explosion was massive. It caused tremors within the earth itself, and blew both Florence and Akara away. The expanding force of the explosion literally ripped Akara in two, but Florence, being farther away, was able to prepare a large amount of lightning and shoot it off as the shockwave reached her. She was still blown straight through the wall with a jarring impact, probably breaking several bones. The very earth shook, and caved. The ceiling of the bunker fell in pieces, burying the two combatants and their ruined arena in several tons of the planet itself. The walls of the corridor were blown out completely, and the shockwave continued on for miles underground, so much so that even Ryusuke and Rhea, who were far from the blast, felt the force of it. The tremors of the earth ceased, but the devastation was apparent. Rubble covered a wide radius from the blast, and even those who had been in combat close by could not be seen, buried alive in the rampant destruction caused by the coalescing flames. Rubble shifted, and a half blue, half blonde ponytail could be seen emerging. Ana stood, covered in bruises and wounds, but otherwise okay.

"Well, that was lucky…" she rubbed the back of her head.

* * *

AN: So, good, bad, average? Please give your opinions, I can't improve without feedback after all! Anywho, I was actually pleased with this one, which is a bloody first. There's still more to come before the arc finishes, but it's hitting its climax now, so yay! And yes, Akara is dead. He is about as dead as you can get. We shall see what happened with Ana vs Cyrus next week (well, you will, I've already written it), so if you can hang on until then, I hope you won't feel hard done by or anything, I do try to keep you interested! Anyways, time for your author to sign off for now, so until next Monday, hope you enjoyed, and have a good week!


	10. Battle Royale

AN: Hey, guys, guess what day it is? No, seriously, guess. Yeah, it's Monday! Unless you're not reading this on a Monday, in which case, consult your nearest calendar (I'm looking at you, friend-who-shall-not-be-named-but-know-exactly-who-you-are). Anyway, I really don't have much to say. There's a lot of big crap coming your way over the next 40 or so weeks, so I guess that's something. Anyway, I'll get on with it. Oh, and it should be pretty obvious since if I did I wouldn't be writing this fanfic, but I find it might work if I periodically mention that I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

_I've seen the worst in myself tonight, I almost lost the fight…_

* * *

**Battle Royale**

"Light Shield!" Ana's charge was halted by a blinding white light formed into a quadrilateral. As it dissipated, Cyrus jumped through it, swinging his katana in a neat arc at her face. She easily ducked, punching him in the gut. He doubled over. She chopped at the back of his neck with the side of her hand, sending him stumbling forward into a knee to the face. However, she wasn't done there.

"Pain!" She punched him again, this time in the jaw, his head whipped backwards, and she touched his neck, shouting out, "Nerve!" as she did so.

Cyrus flew backwards, feeling as if that spell had been a sledgehammer wrecking his neck. He impacted with one of the dull grey walls, feeling a couple of ribs crack, which only added to the pain coursing through every iota of his being. He stood shakily to see Ana hurtling towards him, three of her fingers shaped to a point.

"Jackknife!" She continued forwards for her fingers to meet only the unforgiving stone wall, Cyrus having side-stepped her. Her fingers impacted with a sickening crunch, and she felt all three of them break in several places. She let out a scream. Cyrus, despite the pain wracking his every nerve, capitalised on the situation and delivered a swift kick to her midsection. He then whacked her head with the pommel of his sword, sending her sprawling forwards.

"Radiant Beam!" Cyrus shot out a beam of light straight at Ana, sending her flying into the air. Back-flipping off the impact, she landed gracefully, clutching her injured hand. Shooting at Cyrus, she was a bullet. She speared him, performing a front flip to land as he flipped over, landing roughly on his back. He shot back up, away from Ana's incoming foot, and slashed. He hit only air as she bent back underneath his blade, kicking out at his face. Swaying backwards, he reached into the front of his pants.

"I don't know what the hell you're doing, you pervert, but I will rip it off if it comes near me." Ana rushed at him, preparing her ribbon.

"Yeah, what a wonderful idea, I'll fight with my dick out." His voice was completely serious, and Ana wasn't expecting the pair of nunchuks he whipped out, lamping her in the face. They had been strapped to his leg since he left the guild, even in bed. Just in case Dean got any weird ideas. He had a lot of weapons hidden in his clothing, ranging from a hunting knife in his shoe to shuriken up his sleeves. Ana looked up, and Cyrus began flipping the nunchuks about himself, switching hands and throwing them behind his back, pulling off an intimidation tactic masterfully. That was what he thought, anyway. At least until he tried flicking them through his legs and walloped himself somewhere that should never be hit. He fell to one knee, wheezing and clutching at his ruined manhood. Ana quickly jumped and tilted herself backwards, drop-kicking Cyrus. She landed in a back handspring and flipped over again, landing perfectly. She ran at him, clutching her ribbon in her hand. However, Cyrus still had something up his sleeve. Literally. He produced three shuriken from each sleeve, tossing them at Ana one-by-one. She masterfully dodged each one, until the last came rotating towards her at high speed, and buried itself in her thigh. She screamed.

"Concentrated Beam!" Another simple beam of light, although much denser than the first, barrelled at Ana. This one caught her full in the stomach, and she went flying back. With the injuries she had taken, there was no back-flipping out of this one, and she landed harshly. Her back ached, and she felt warmth spreading throughout her right arm. With a grimace, she lifted it to find it hurt to lift it. She examined her shoulder, and found that the wound Ryusuke had inflicted had re-opened. Which put her right arm out of commission entirely. Not that it mattered much, with a broken right hand. Without warning, Cyrus was upon her, batting at her with his nunchuks. His strikes, however, were easy to dodge, and the only thing he was managing to do was to prove that he was completely inept at using nunchuks. She kicked out at his knee, eliciting a cry of pain, so he held his hand out, only a couple of feet from her face.

"Light Bullets!" Several of the small projectiles exploded in her face, causing burns and breaking her nose. Both stood back up, almost mirroring each other, but Cyrus was quicker. He slashed out, forcing her onto the defensive. His lateral slash was avoided, and she landed from her jump on his blade. Before he had time to react, she had her ribbon prepared, and struck out.

"Drill!" The ribbon wrapped around her left hand, and she used it to strike Cyrus in the right cheek. His head whipped to his left, a nasty wound inflicted upon his face. He quickly lashed out with the nunchuks, his wild swing taking out the leg perched precariously on his blade, and she landed hard upon her head. Dazed and groggy, she looked up to see Cyrus' blade at her throat, his face impassive.

"I think I win." Before she could respond to this, the ground above them shook. Suddenly, an explosion ravaged the room in which they were fighting, blowing out the walls, and even shaking her to the core. Even as the room crumbled around them, she threw her ribbon about herself, hardening it with her magic. Cyrus was struck in the midsection by a piece of wall, which sent him flying away a decent distance, knocking him completely unconscious. Ana, however, was lucky. Nothing too large came near her, and what did could be batted away by her ribbon. By the time the explosion subsided, the wreckage was clear. It was complete devastation. And her opponent was nowhere to be found.

"Well, that was lucky…" she breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

Deva stood in front of Dean, his visage completely changed. He now wore an eye-patch over his right eye, his hair was long and white, and he had gained a beard of the same characteristics. His face was lined, worn and scarred, and he wore battle-worn plate armour. In his right hand, he held a long, sleek blade of a pure silver, with an intricately carved hilt. He grinned.

"Odin, king of the Gods. Proving himself again and again in battle, he was hailed as the all-father, with his blade Ragnarok, and his trusty steed Sleipnir. So what do you do in the presence of the all-father?"

Dean gave him a hard glare. "This. Converging Plague!" His body became four spheres of sickly purple smoke, all four shooting off at Deva in different direction. The spheres swirled around the smirking Deva before converging upon him. The smoke enveloped him, trying to force its way up his nose and in his mouth. His mouth was clamped shut, however, and he held his nose closed. Dean's body reformed right in front of him, and he let fly a punch. Deva caught it in his hand, squeezing down on it before letting loose a massive horizontal slash intended to bifurcate Dean.

"Plague Body!" Instantly, his body turned into a swirling mass of Plague smoke, purple and sickly. Ragnarok slashed through the smoke, dissipating it slightly before it reformed. Deva's hand now grasped nothing, and Dean ran straight through him. In the form of Plague smoke, this meant that the smoke itself instantly entered Deva's system. He coughed and wheezed, before smiling, phlegm dribbling down his chin.

"Do you think that a mere plague could defeat Odin? He has been through much worse than that! The wars he has seen would give you a heart attack, boy! The blood spilled by Ragnarok has been much more noxious than your pathetic Magic! No matter how strong you may be," he began laughing manically, "you cannot defeat a God!"

"Well then I guess it's a good thing," Dean grit his teeth, "that there's no such thing as a god! Plague Bomb!" He shot a sphere of the acrid smoke at Deva, but he merely batted it away with Ragnarok. He laughed even harder, malevolence shining through each churn of his gut.

"Boy, you need to learn your place! Light of Ragnarok!" Ragnarok shined with an iridescent glow, before exploding in light. The slash heavy, Deva leaned into it, and a massive tide of light flew at Dean. With little time to react, he was thrown back, hurtling through empty air as the light slashed into his abdomen, leaving a deep gash, blood spurting out and continuously flowing from the wound.

Dean felt weak. He was losing far too much blood. He felt numb. It was as if his insides were spilling out, and still Deva stood in front of him, laughing. Maniacal bastard. He was unrealistically woozy, his head swimming. He began to think of all the things he could never do, everything he had wanted from life. To be the best person he could be. To help to destroy the evil in the world, and see the carving of a path to a better tomorrow. He fell to one knee. It was no use. He was bleeding out. A fleeting thought of those he cared about lying dead flashed about his head, before he saw his entire life unfold before him.

* * *

"_Dad, what is this?"_

"_This, my dear boy, is the Apocalypse Soul. I have always loved Lost Magics, my son, and it is my wish for you to utilise one. This will give you the power to change the world, as you so desire. My son, this is all for you."_

"_So how will I learn it?" Dean was excited. He was sixteen years of age, but he had eyes wide and full of wonder. He had ideals, he wanted to help the world, and he had never had the power to do so. And now his father had decided teach him magic._

"_Just leave that to me…"_

* * *

"_This is the final horseman: Death. This will be difficult to master, so I want you to put in your best efforts here. Don't let our work on the other three horsemen go to waste. Do your best."_

"_Apocalypse Soul: Death!" _

_He hadn't been prepared for this. So much power. It was unreal. He struggled to balance it within himself, trying desperately to gain control over the spirit of the horseman. But it was simply too strong. His technique flew away from him, and suddenly, the apocalypse was now. It was only a small town he and his father took residence in, and that made the effect so much worse. Magical energy, coloured a deathly black, seared through every nook, every cranny, and every crevice. It brought only death and destruction in its wake, burning the town to cinders. When the blazes finally died, with nothing left to feed on, everything the boy had known was in ruins. Tears fell from his eyes, looking upon the devastation which he himself had brought. He punched the unforgiving ground as hard as he could, the impact splitting skin on his knuckles. No-one was left alive. No-one but him. _

"_What the fuck have I done?!" His scream pierced the heavens._

* * *

_Dean was a wanderer. For nearly a year, he had travelled, trying to help people. But in truth, he couldn't bring himself to care enough. He was absorbed in his own sins, and most of his actions were merely to atone. He held no more grandiose illusions about changing the world; it simply wasn't possible. His idealism had been shattered under the weight of his despair, and he felt numb. He had nothing, and he felt as if he could never truly atone. Finding himself in Onibus Town, he found himself sat at a bar, mages surrounding him. He tried hard to drown his pain, but he couldn't. Nothing was right anymore. In his actions, he had jaded himself to the point of complete apathy towards anything beyond his agony. However, in trying to ignore the internal wrestling match between his angst and himself, he heard certain words keep popping up. The guild. Angel's Breath. He turned to the barman._

"_Where can I find Angel's Breath?"_

* * *

_He stood in front of a three-storey building, with a simple wooden board displaying a logo above a pair of double doors. A halo, flanked by two feathery wings, with a breath of wind interspersing with the halo. This was it. He had the opportunity to atone for his sins. Join a guild, do good. He could make a difference. He could do everything he always wanted to do. For the first time in a very long time, he felt a glimmer of hope. He would atone. He would do right by the friends he would make. He would make sure that evil never again laid its hands on the world. And he would never use that accursed form again._

* * *

"_So who exactly are you?" A girl with curly black hair, flashing about her as if it were a mane, sat across from him._

"_Dean Arc."_

"_I'm Florence. So I guess we're guildmates now, huh?"_

"_No, I'm actually a very thorough serial killer."_

"_Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit."_

"_I've known you for a grand total of ten minutes and I can already tell that you're living in a glass house throwing stones around."_

* * *

"_I am the Lightning Queen!"_

"_And I'm a shape-shifting alien, nice to meet you."_

"_Shut the hell up, Cyrus!"_

* * *

"_Who in the hell are you?"_

"_The abominable fucking snowman."_

"_Well, aren't you a bundle of good cheer…"_

"_I try my best. Now kindly exit my personal space."_

"_I only asked who you were, asshole."_

"_Ryusuke. Ryusuke Yugure."_

* * *

"_I'm Rhea, this is Celeste and Aster! So, what's your name?"_

"_Dean."_

"_So you're our new member, huh? I've been told you're actually quite strong, something about a lost magic?"_

"_Yeah, something like that."_

"_So, just how strong?"_

"_Which one are you again?"_

"_Celeste. Now could ya answer me?"_

"_Pretty strong."_

"_Okay then, how about a little spar?"_

* * *

Dean looked up, his glare hardening. He couldn't let it end like this. Faces flashed in front of his vision, their appearance both instantaneous and infinite. Florence. Cyrus. Rhea. Celeste. Aster. Ryusuke. Eiko. Lucina. Nui. Bane. Wisteria. Mari. Echo. Baz. Anna. With so many people counting on him, how could he get to the afterlife and tell his father he had atoned if he failed them now? He stood up, his eyes showing pure grit and determination.

Deva tried very hard to not show his surprise. The wound he had inflicted should have killed the man, and hell, it nearly did. So why was he standing up, glaring at him like all hell-fire? Still, this did nothing to the overall result. He knew that soon Dean would fall. It was a matter of when, and not if. He broke into laughter. He couldn't help it. He gave Dean a condescending eye, drawing the glare straight at him.

"How tenacious, little angel! Why do you stand though you know your efforts to be in vain?"

"_Damn it, Rhea… I give."_

"_Why? So long as you can still stand…"_

"You can fight," he mumbled.

"What idiocy do you espouse now? Do you still hold a childish belief of victory?"

"You said my efforts were in vain," his voice was serious, and growing ever darker. "Well I can tell you, they aren't! So long as I can still stand, I can fight! So long as I can fight, I can win! Even if the odds are completely against me, and even if I have nothing left, so long as I stand, I can find a path to victory! This is what one of the friends I'm fighting to protect told me as I became an S-Class mage! And it remains true now, so nothing here is in vain! Nothing is pointless! No matter how slim the chance of victory, it will always exist! Eyes of Pestilence!" Dean's eyes glowed a sickly shade of green, and he stared straight into Deva's, his gaze piercing into the man's soul.

Deva felt it hit him like a ton of bricks. The sickness. He stumbled backwards, coughing and wheezing. Doubled over, he tried to stand up straight, but broke out coughing again. He was hacking up large wads of phlegm, and he couldn't stop himself. Dean rushed towards him, fist raised and pulled backwards. His unseen snarl betrayed his anxiety, as he knew he didn't have long left. However, his punch was caught, as a huge paw blocked the progress of his hand.

"I must commend you, angel… for one of the light, you can be remarkably cruel. Nevertheless, it ends here." Using a beastly strength, he threw Dean away a few feet, before pointing Ragnarok at him. "By the roots of Yggdrassil and the light of Asgard, Odin's Judgment!"

Dean felt like he was being crushed by the remarkable pressure building around him, emanating from the outstretched sword. He stared in amazement, unable to move, as a strange yellow light gathered around the tip of the blade, forming itself into a spherical shape not unlike a planet. He gawked as it shot towards him, and even as it hit, when it expanded to surround him. He found himself surrounded by light, and looked about himself to see nothing but what appeared to be roots glowing yellow. On the outside, a large, ethereal tree was growing from the sphere, and as it got larger, its roots latched onto every available inch of Dean, enveloping him. He felt his magic, and even his very life, being drained. As much as he struggled against it, and tried to suppress his magic, it wouldn't work. He was dying, with no means of escape. Except one. Something he had sworn would never again see the light of day. As he debated with himself, his internal conflict mounting, he heard Deva's voice from outside the sphere.

"Yggdrassil, the World Tree. Its roots will draw upon your very essence, feeding itself, and having the ability to sustain itself until the life force it absorbs has run out. It will stand watch until it disappears. The World Tree is far too mighty for any to fight it, so whilst you may stand, you now cannot win. There is no hope for you. You will die here." Even as he spoke, he saw an inky blackness seeping through newly appeared gaps in the sphere. Without warning, Yggdrassil withered and died, and the sphere, taking shape as a planet more with each passing second, shattered into tiny fragments. Deva watched with shock as Dean emerged, emitting the blackness from his very being.

He wore loose black pants with spiked boots, and had upper body armour of bone with black markings. His shoulder guards were bone, and he had gained a skeletal mask with black markings, as well as a black hood pulled over his head. Sprouting from his back was a pair of skeletal angel wings, and in his hand was a pure black reaper's scythe. He rushed forward with impossible speed, completely bypassing Deva's defences. He couldn't block as Dean swung his scythe at blistering speed, cutting a large gash in his torso. Blood spurted from the wound, and he fell. Odin disappeared, and only Deva remained. Blood flowed freely from the wound at an impossible rate, and it even looked as if he could bleed out. But Dean couldn't bring himself to care, his face cold and emotionless.

"However mighty something may be, Death is even mightier."

And then everything exploded.

* * *

AN: This one's a lot shorter, I know, but I think I made up for it with all the action and crap. Truth be told, it just seemed like the story flowed better if I ended it here. And in case anyone's wondering, the Norse mythology crap is actually a mix of old Norse mythology and the Marvel Comics Asgardians. If you've read Fear Itself you'll be able to visualise Ragnarok instantly. I really enjoyed writing Dean's part here, so I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And in case you're wondering, I decided to put the whole 'faces flashing in his eyes' part in as a take that to whoever wrote on the TVtropes page that I'm deconstructing The Power of Friendship. This is the tenth chapter. Don't make assumptions. So, until next time folks, this is your author, signing off!


	11. You Should've Killed Me

AN: Hello again, valued readers! Yes, this is a day late. However, yesterday was a bank holiday in my country, and bank holidays are a time for me to do absolutely nothing. As I write this, it occurs to me that updating once a week with the amount of chapters in my outline will have this story running for over 2 years. And that is a long-ass time. I'll be in friggin' university by the time we get to the end. Ah well, I get to brighten up your Mondays for 2 years! Anyway, let's jump in to the meat of the Unspoken Treasure arc, and get on with the chapter, with a thanks to FrozenBlast13, PrinceOfTheMatrix88, Lexlovesya, Queen JJ, LightandDarkHeart and Lightningpanda for their reviews!

* * *

_Why can't you look me in the eyes one last time…?_

* * *

**You Should've Killed Me When You Had the Chance**

"Lock and load…"

"The hell are you talking about?"

"I can feel it. We're being watched."

"Now that you mention it…"

"This place is pretty small, I doubt they could properly sneak up on us."

"Don't underestimate them. We made that mistake last time, remember?"

"Listen to your footsteps. Loud and heavy. You're much lighter of foot than most people are, so you can probably imagine that they'd at least make a little noise."

As predicted, a noise. Then another. And another. Light, but still heavy. Quiet, but still loud. Footsteps. Two pairs. Approaching quickly. Coming from different directions. A pincer movement. Suddenly: silence. Nothing. No movement whatsoever. Never underestimate your opponents. It could be the death of you. She'd been told this over and over. And now Celeste understood the gravity of it as she felt a blade slip between her shoulders.

* * *

Death walked the hallway. His scythe held at his side, he looked about himself. Naught but devastation. He could see sky above him, as the roof of the bunker had caved in on itself with the force of the explosion. Just what the hell had caused that? It had to have been something massive. Then again, the Unspoken Treasure was supposed to be a magical bomb, so maybe it went off early? He quickly dismissed this theory. The area of effect was far too small for a dark guild to have been so adamant to take it. He doubted that it was even what it was described as, but he couldn't really think of any alternative theories. Death was worried. He couldn't find his comrades, couldn't even see them amongst the rubble. Looking up, he spotted something suspiciously arm-shaped resting atop a pile of destroyed stone. Upon closer inspection, he found it was an arm, torn off of its original body by some massive force. So the original owner of this arm had probably been close to the epicentre of the explosion. He looked even closer, and found that, to his relief, it wasn't an arm he recognised. So it wasn't one of his friends, which meant there was still a chance they were alive. Well, he could always hope. He picked it up and grimaced. He wasn't in the best of states anyway, light-headed and bleeding, and this just made him feel a bit sick. As he was about to put the dilapidated limb down and begin a search, he heard a voice cut the air behind him.

"Looks like one of your friends didn't make it."

He turned to see a lithe girl with hair tied in a ponytail, half blue and half blonde. She was grimacing in pain, cradling her right hand, with a small, self-satisfied smirk on her face nonetheless.

"Looks more to me like your friend didn't make it." His expression was dark, determined and pained.

Her smirk fell, and her grimace remained. She rushed at Death, her face contorted in a mix of panic and rage. It soon fell into the calm face one has upon unconsciousness descending, as Death's scythe stuck out of her gut. He withdrew it, and collapsed to one knee, panting. Death disappeared, and Dean returned. He looked upon the fallen figure of Ana, blood seeping from the wound in her abdomen, and sighed. He looked down at his own figure, and saw the toll his battle had taken. A large slash across his torso, still bleeding. A chunk of flesh ripped from his flank, raw and angry, blood pouring. He was sure he didn't have long left. He entered his Pestilence form, and ripped the linen bandages covering his head and upper torso straight off. Then he dissipated Pestilence, given that he was so spent he barely had the energy to maintain consciousness, never mind a Takeover. It was already taking a herculean effort not to fall into the void. Wrapping the bandages around his bare torso, the clothes covering it having been jettisoned, he grimaced and grit his teeth. He tied the bandages around his wounds as tightly as possible to cut off the blood flow, and to stop himself from bleeding out. Of course, with the amount of blood trying to get out, he could barely move with how tight he had had to tie the bandages. Nevertheless, he managed. Continuing forward, he began painfully searching through rubble.

* * *

"That felt pretty big."

"I know. I was stood right next to you."

"D'you think the others are alright?"

"Probably not."

"What a bundle of joy you are."

"I'm not here to be a bundle of joy and fuckin' cuddles. I'm here to help you grab this thing, probably fight some dickheads while we're at it, and get the fuck out alive. That was a distant explosion, we didn't even hear it. There's no such thing as a silent explosion, yet we still felt it. Weakly, but it was there. If we still felt it, but didn't hear it, how big would it be? The odds are on that it was caused by an attack, meaning that someone was at the epicentre. That someone would have been torn violently apart by the force of it. And the fire is another story. If they weren't ripped into oblivion, they were probably burnt to a crisp."

"How optimistic…"

"Optimism is a tool of the naïve."

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that."

"You go ahead and do that." Ryusuke stopped in his tracks. There was a door in front of them to their left, hanging suspiciously half open. He looked towards Rhea, raising a finger to his lips, and she nodded. Drawing his sword, he backed into the wall next to the door, pressing himself into it as hard as he could, whilst Rhea did the same on the other side. He pulled his blade into a ready position and raised three fingers.

"You go left, I'll go right," she mouthed, gesturing the actions as she did so. He nodded, before dropping one finger.

"Three," he mouthed. Anticipation bridled within them. A lone bead of sweat trickled down the back of Ryusuke's neck.

"Two…" he raised his sword further, tensing the muscles in his legs to spring out. Rhea tensed as well, magic dancing on her fingers.

"One…" anticipation maximised, and sweat poured. The final finger dropped. They burst in, Ryusuke covering the left, Rhea the right. Both pairs of eyes quickly swept over the entire contents of their given sides, vigilantly checking for any sign of enemies. They held themselves ready to be attacked at any moment, but it was not to be. The room was empty. It was remarkably spacious, although the ceiling was still low, as could be expected for an underground bunker. They looked at each other, and Ryusuke breathed a sigh of relief.

He breathed it too soon.

He heard Rhea's warning far too late. By that point, he was looking at the back of Markus, with a slender arm wrapped around his neck, the point of a wakizashi perilously close to his throat.

Rhea stared at Markus, and looked back towards the purple void from which he and Delia had emerged. She couldn't believe that they had been tricked into complacency like that, and now they were paying for it. She glared at Markus, her expression grim. He smirked, and her eyes then flicked to Ryusuke, who was held in such a position that his throat could be cut at a flick of Delia's wrist, severing tendons, veins and arteries, and ending his life very quickly. She growled. She was angry. Mainly with herself, but she was pretty pissed with their two enemies as well. They were playing dirty, and she didn't like that. Then again, there was no expectation of honour among thieves. She looked towards Ryusuke with dire worry, to find he had a wry smile on his face. He winked at her before exploding into Delia with an elbow to the gut. She doubled over and he chopped the back of her neck with his hand. He attempted to whack her head with the pommel of his word, but she dodged to the side and reassumed the position the two had been in before his ultimately unsuccessful escape attempt. He struggled, but her hold was much tighter this time.

"I'm afraid you'll have to leave your girlfriend behind and come with me," she whispered into his ear. With this, she forcefully dragged him back into the purple void, leaving Rhea alone with Markus, who smirked.

"Well then, my dear… where should we begin?"

* * *

It was her instinct that saved her. Celeste had rolled away from the blade plunging itself into her back in time for it not to descend too deep, but it still left a nasty gash up her back, ascending into her shoulder. She winced as she lifted her arm.

"Tyrhung!" The named blade appeared in her hand and she rushed forward. Cali, wearing a manic grin, sidestepped the strike, her electric blue hair swinging in her wake. She raised her pure steel blade and swung one-handed at Celeste, managing only to hit thin air as Celeste jumped back.

And hit a wall.

She rolled to the side as Cali stabbed towards her, looking about herself to see Aster being dominated in hand-to-hand combat by Ryo. This wasn't good. Not good at all. She struck out with Tyrhung, met with the satisfying clang of steel on steel as Cali opted to block. She let loose a horizontal slash, aiming for Cali's ribs. She was again blocked, but immediately let loose a flurry of blows, all of which her opponent blocked with relative ease. Stabbing out, she surged forward, met with the reward of a swift blow to the back of her head. Reeling, she attacked diagonally with great force, able to force Cali onto the defensive and to dodge, but she overextended herself and had to sway back to avoid a slash of Cali's own. Coming back with an inverted slash, she struck at Cali with her offhand, bunched into a fist, and it collided with her shoulder, forcing her to reel back. Celeste continued to push her advantage, hitting with a relentless offensive, and Cali couldn't block all of them, taking several cuts. She jumped back and raised her arm.

"Steel Spikes!" Several spikes shot out from behind Celeste, who was forced to jump to the side. However, there wasn't exactly much space to move in, and the spikes already had enough velocity to catch her, and she let out a small cry of pain as one embedded itself in her calf. She could feel blood trickling down it, and fire erupted all up her lower left leg whenever she tried to put weight on it. She grinned. This was going to be fun. Looking around, she realised she couldn't really distance herself enough to use long-range spells, but she could use the shorter-range ones well enough, even in this confined space.

"Gunblade Magic: Load!" The trigger appeared on Tyrhung's pommel, and thirty charges appeared on the blade, their green colour glowing in the gloom of the weak light given by sporadic dome lights in the ceiling. Celeste held it as one would a sawn-off shotgun, and gave a grin almost as manic as Cali's.

"Gunblade: Artillery Strike!" A ball of golden energy erupted from the end of Tyrhung, which was pointed straight at Cali, and moved too quickly for her to dodge. She tried to slash it apart, but it blew up, and with nowhere to fly, she impacted hard with the hallway's wall. Celeste gave another grin. It dropped as soon as she looked over to Aster, who really wasn't looking to be in good shape.

"You aren't going to get anywhere, as you can probably tell. Your hand-to-hand capabilities are inferior to mine."

"The hell they are!" Aster shouted, rushing forward with a straight right. Ryo dodged it easily, and lashed out with a quick jab to her gut. He followed up with a roundhouse kick to her face, sending her sprawling. Strangely, he waited for her to stand up before moving forward again. He let loose a haymaker which Aster dodged, but he swept a foot at her knee in her distraction, forcing her to take the weight off it. She growled.

"Why not finish me off when I was down?"

"That is not an honourable way to fight. Just because I am your enemy does not mean I am a barbarian."

Aster flew forward with a leaping dropkick, but he was able to dodge and placed his hand on her descending body, forcing her down with a greater velocity. She hit the ground hard. Groggily, she stood up, only to have to roll out of the way of a jab. Backed against the wall, she let her frustration get the best of her.

"Falling Stars!" Throwing her hands outwards, several beams of brilliant starlight forced their way towards Ryo. He stood completely still and took the attack, which had the same effect on him as a mite of dust on an oncoming tidal wave. Aster grimaced. He was still adapted to her magic.

"Now that you have demonstrated your complete helplessness, would you like to surrender? I really don't take any pleasure in hitting women."

"Blow it out of your ass." Aster then turned round, hearing Celeste's voice coming at her.

"Aster, switch!" As she watched Celeste rushing to her position, she adhered. The two slapped hands in a tagging action as they passed each other, and Aster confronted Cali.

"Looks like my brother gave you quite the beating, so what makes you believe you can do any better against me?" said Cali with that manic grin of hers.

"Simple, really. You can't take hits from my magic without blinking. Starlight!" Aster released a beam of brilliant white light at Cali, who dodged, but not quickly enough. Half of the attack impacted with her flank, causing her to grit her teeth in pain. She rushed forward with her blade, but Aster was ready.

"Burning Stars!" Her fists were engulfed in starlight, and she lashed out with a right hand which hit Cali on the cheek, burning her and sending her backwards. Aster followed up with a left hook, burning Cali again, and finished with an uppercut that took Cali slightly off her feet, and sent her careening into the corridor wall. She followed with a forearm shot that forced the back of her opponent's head into the cold, unforgiving stone. However, she was quickly forced back as Cali let loose a horizontal slash, and she was forced to jump away. However, the air pressure caused by the swing barrelled into Aster, forcing her back even further into the opposite wall. Cali pushed forward, slashing as she did so. Aster combat rolled away, before raising a hand into an offensive position.

"Twinkling Star!" Several small starlight orbs emerged from her outstretched hand, forming s tight circle around Cali. Two of them moved upwards to her eyes, and she saw her greatest wish coming true.

"_Mommy! You're back!"_

"_I'm sorry it took so long for me to find you, both of you. I promise you that I'll never leave you again!"_

_Cali's mother engulfed her in an embrace, and suddenly, she was a child again. She let tears slip from her eyes as she clung to her mother closely. She didn't think she'd ever be able to let go, lest they again be separated._

Back in reality, Aster struck forwards with her Burning Stars spell active. She didn't see the shining tears fall from Cali's eyes as she snapped her out of her stupor with a straight right. Cali was sent back, landing on her backside with force. As she stood, massaging the burn that had taken residence on her face, she looked around confused. Realising where she was, she looked back at Aster, her face showing naught but pure, unadulterated rage.

"You would dare do that to me?"

Aster gulped. She hadn't managed to land a decisive enough blow, and it would cost her. She had poked a bear. She had been stupid in not attempting a more powerful attack, and she guessed that she was going to pay the price.

"Steel Blades!" Cali screeched, a multitude of swords and knives made purely of steel appeared in a coliseum around Aster. She gulped again. With a scream and a wave of her hand, Cali sent the swords barrelling towards Aster at great velocity, too fast for her to dodge. She tried, of course, but she was still skewered. She fell to her knees, supporting herself with one hand, blood flowing from her wounds in small amounts. However, once Cali dismissed the blades stuck inside her blood spurted from Aster's cuts and she slumped. That attack had been devastating. With great effort, she stood, only to have her nose shattered by a strike from the pommel of Cali's sword. She wasn't enjoying this anymore, that was for damn sure. Aster rose again, and this time dodged the hefty slash that would have finished her. Her evasion nearly took all that she had left, and she panted as Cali readied herself for another rage-fuelled attack. Aster dodged several strikes before taking a diagonal slash across her midsection. It was shallow, but it intersected with several of the deeper cuts she had already taken, which forced her to cry out in pain. This had all of a sudden turned into an uphill battle, and she sensed that she didn't have the traction to start moving upwards. However, she still had to try. She thrust her hands outward as she screamed.

"Falling Stars!" Cali evaded every one of the beams, and reached Aster quickly, forcing her to evade once more. She was tired. Oh, so very tired. Exhausted even. Was it worth carrying on? Was there even hope right now? Could any of them win against this kind of power? She really didn't know, but nonetheless, she had to try. She wouldn't stop until she was killed. She looked over to see Celeste use a spell to blow out the walls to the side of her, giving her more manoeuvrability. This gave Aster an idea. Perhaps if she put some distance between them, things would get easier. Cali didn't seem to use many long-range spells, after all, focusing more on using that sword. She gave a small smirk as Cali walked towards her, exuding fury with her every sauntering step.

"Shooting Star!" A massive beam of starlight erupted from her hand straight at Cali. She didn't dodge well enough, and was forced back as the spell hit her flank, but she wasn't the target. The attack ripped through the wall, creating a sizeable gap that led into a room off the hallway. She rushed past Cali into the room, putting distance between them. Cali, however, didn't mind distance, as Aster's evaluation had been dead wrong. She could do long-range, but she really didn't want to get caught in any of her attacks, for she knew how devastating they were. Scowling, she raised her sword and pointed it straight at Aster.

"I'm gonna make you pay for what you just did to me. It's time for you to burn! Steel River!" Aster heard a sickening gurgling directly above her. Looking up, she saw a viscous liquid forming, glowing an angry red. The heat exuding could be felt from where Aster was standing, and suddenly, with no warning, it fell. Gravity took its hold and it came at her. The ceiling in this room was higher than in the hallway, and that saved her. The molten steel was nearly two metres above her, and it fell with an acceleration of nine point eight-one metres per second squared, as was the acceleration of an object due to gravity. However, the liquid form meant air resistance had a stronger effect on its wide shape, which gave her more time to dodge, which she did. Just. The molten metal all fell to the floor, and Aster jumped away as far as she could to avoid being splashed. She watched as it burned through the floor, sizzling and spitting. Cali rushed towards her again, and in her evasion, Aster was forced to jump over the pile of rapidly cooling goo. However, Cali didn't notice it as she ran forward in her rage. Her left foot cleared it, but her right didn't. Being that it was still somewhat liquid, it stands to reason that it would still be at unendurable temperature. And it was, so Cali screamed in pain. The molten metal burned through the flesh of her foot, eating through it like a monster of old lore. Aster took sympathy on the pain of the girl, given her screams. It had to be unbearable. And the steel was hardening fast, which made her stuck. Making this the perfect time to finish it.

"Shooting Star!" This time the attack hit Cali directly, which would have normally killed her. However, Aster didn't want to kill her enemy, so she had toned down the attack. It still had enough force to rip Cali from the burning steel, and it nearly knocked her unconscious. However, she was in too much pain to get back up. She lay curled up, whimpering, staring at her ruined right foot. It was horrifically burned, completely crimson and covered in angry looking blisters. Layers of skin and flesh were missing, but she'd only been in there for a second or two, which saved her from losing the entire limb, and indeed from death, but she was still in unbelievable pain. So Aster did the merciful thing, and with a sympathetic look, gave a swift chop to the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious and taking her away from the agony of her burned, ruined body.

* * *

"Darkness Wave!" True to the name, a wave of darkness flew out towards Rhea, who dodged easily.

"You sure you want to do this? Last time we fought you saw what I can do, and I won't be so stupid as to allow myself to reach my limits this time, so you may as well just surrender now. I promise I won't kill you." Rhea wore a small smirk, but it conflicted with her internal emotions. Was everyone else okay? It was obvious that their plan had gone to shit, so were the rest of her friends alive? Who had been caught in that explosion? Had that woman killed Ryusuke? The questions were burning her.

"What you say and what you do are two different things. I should extend you the same courtesy, for I can tell you that by the end of this battle you will be lost in despair, and your final moments will be spent lost in a deep depression."

"Heard it all before, asshole. Gale Rocket!" Wind shot from her feet and she rushed at inhuman speeds at Markus. He had no time to even comprehend the move, let alone counter it, and so was hit with a massive haymaker that sent him flying backwards, just about landing on his feet. Rhea came round again, letting loose with a lightning-paced kick. It walloped Markus in the head, forcing him back as Rhea hit him with a flurry of blows from her fists, each one connecting with a jarring impact. She jumped back as he let loose a wild swing.

"Windblade!" A blade of wind formed in her hand, and she again struck forward at her great velocity, feet not even touching the floor, however Markus was ready even before she slashed.

"Darkness Shield!" A wall of pure darkness emerged before Rhea, and her blade was stopped in its tracks. Her follow-through jilted her shoulder, and she let out a small grunt. The shield reached to the ceiling, so she was forced to go round it. Not that it was a problem, with her speed. She rushed to the left before u-turning with an impressive turning circle and having her blade once again collide with the shield, it having moved at Markus' command. She dissipated the blade, and decided a more powerful technique would get through.

"Gale!" A massive wind erupted as Rhea thrust her hands outwards, buffeting the shield, and beyond it. The force of the wind was enough to form splinters within the construct, and with a single kick, it had shattered. She tackled Markus into the wall, and at such high speed, the impact was fantastic. She heard bones crack, and Markus grunted in pain. She came back for a kick, but he performed an impressive block with his arm, catching her ankle and sweeping at her grounded leg. She fell on her backside, and rolled away as she saw him try stomping down.

"Darkness Devastation!" The attack splintered towards her, and there was nowhere to run.

"Windscythe!" The spinning, almost invisible projectiles cut enough of a gap in Markus' attack for Rhea to slip through and attempt a wind-imbued punch. However, he was prepared enough to duck underneath and give a hefty knee to her gut, knocking all the wind out of her.

"Dark Fists!" His fists were enshrouded in darkness, and he struck out at Rhea's face, hitting her cheek cleanly.

She felt cold. That hit had hurt, and it felt like it had absorbed all the heat from her body. She felt like she was about to freeze to death. Then again, as a wind mage, she could withstand freezing winds, so what was a bit of cold to her?

"Gust!" A small gust of wind blew Markus off-balance long enough for Rhea to hit with a massive roundhouse that almost dropped the man. However, he still stood, and the two engaged in hand-to-hand combat. He let loose with a right hook, which Rhea caught on her left hand before kicking at his kidney. He stepped back before launching a kick of his own straight at her abdomen, and was caught by a glancing blow as Rhea stepped aside and struck out with a straight left, dodging to avoid the full impact of her strike. She jumped up and let loose a scissor kick, and he wasn't quick enough to avoid it entirely, her foot skimming across his chin and forcing his head upwards. He jumped back, looking more annoyed than anything.

"Let's see how you do here then… face despair. Darkened Skies!" The room was shrouded in an inky blackness, and visibility suddenly became zero. She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face, and that presented a problem.

"Just how do you expect to fight me when you can't see anything?"

He had just summed it up perfectly.

* * *

AN: So, good, bad, average? Feedback helps me to improve! Do tell me your thoughts, I'm interested to know what people think. We're hitting the climax now, which is good, because I'm actually getting a bit bored with this arc and I want to move on to the next one, because I anticipate thorough enjoyment in writing that one. And what's this? I did something with a villain? Well, one-dimensional straight villains are bloody boring. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and normal service shall resume next week! Although I am back at college next week, so you might end up with shorter chapters some weeks (A-Levels take a LOT of work). Anyway, until next week folks!


	12. Highway to Hell

AN: Holy shit, I'm alive. I surprised myself too, don't worry. It is Saturday as I write this, and this is the first time I've had to write since I last updated. Anyway, the arc is now at a climax, so soon we'll be able to see what comes next, which I'm sure will excite you guys as much as it excites me. Anywho, on to the next chapter, where we shall see the conclusions of not one, not two, but three fights! Enjoy, folks.

* * *

_I'm on the highway to hell!_

* * *

**Highway to Hell**

Sparks flew as two blades clashed. Riposte led to counter, and strike after strike echoed off the walls and the low ceiling. Misses were narrow, attacks flew with conviction, and blocks were assured. However, this didn't change the fact that Ryusuke was being driven backwards as Delia pushed with an insistence he had yet to see among opponents. Each of her strikes was immediately followed by another, either with the same blade or the one she held in her opposite hand. He couldn't, however, call it a berserker style, since she left no openings for him to exploit, and it was all he could do to simply defend. After scoring a shallow cut across his face, she ceased in her attacks.

"Why aren't you attacking? You could have easily just slit my throat before, and now you've just stopped. Do you want me to kill you or something?"

A sad smile graced her features. "I really thought you'd be more than this. I thought that I'd finally found a worthy opponent, but you're just too weak."

He snorted. "You have my sympathies. Twilight Fire!" The only warning Delia received was his shout, and it allowed her to dodge to the side, Ryusuke's attack narrowly skimming by her. She launched herself towards him, offhand blade flying at his throat. He saw through the dummy and blocked down by his gut whilst simultaneously ducking, and rose himself back up into a lock with Delia.

"That wasn't very nice." Delia smirked.

"Don't care."

"And here I thought you were one of the heroes, here to vanquish evil from the world."

"You thought wrong."

"Then maybe this could prove to be interesting after all." With this, she broke the lock, opening a rift behind herself and instantly disappearing into it. Only instinct as he felt a blade begin to slide across his back saved him from a debilitating injury, but the slash was still deep. Blood poured out of the wound, and his coat now hung from his shoulders. He took it off, looking at it in disgust. Looking as if he was about to drop it to the floor, he instead chucked it at Delia, with the garment covering her face. He wasted no time in capitalising.

"Twilight Slash!" The twilight energy seared towards Delia from the edge of Ryusuke's blade, but his shout again warned her, and she disappeared into a rift before it could hit. The attack impacted a wall and blew chunks from it. Suddenly, Delia reappeared in front of Ryusuke, ducking behind him and tying his arms to his body with his own sleeves in the process. He pulled his chin down to his chest, and launched his head backwards with as much force as he could muster. Jumping back, she pulled Ryusuke's bindings with her, dragging him back and pulling him off balance. As he fell back, he felt a knee dig into his spine, and then a shock as cold steel penetrated skin and slashed across his shoulder blades. Falling on his backside, he had no reprieve as Delia's foot came straight at his face. Instinctually, he batted the foot aside with an arm and rolled away, springing back to his feet. He grimaced, and breathed through gritted teeth. Blood poured down his back, and with each breath came a searing pain on both gashes.

"Well, aren't you a tough one? I honestly thought you'd be unconscious by now." Delia's manic grin had returned, and she stepped slowly and thoughtfully towards him.

"Again, you thought wrong. You're not having a very good day with that, are you?" He launched himself at the sauntering Delia, aiming the swing of his sword at her neck. Rather than disappear, she blocked him with her offhand wakizashi before giving a firm punch to his gut, doubling him over. She followed with a knee to the face, forcing blood to spurt from his nose. He staggered backwards into a forearm in his spine. A foot connected with his temple, sending him sprawling. Raising himself to one knee, he glared at the still grinning figure of Delia before doing something he could have never seen himself doing.

Delia's eyes widened as she felt a katana pierce her shoulder. Ryusuke had stance like a kneeling javelin thrower, and allowed himself a small moment of triumph before rushing towards her. However, she was quick to recover from her shock, and disappeared into a purple void. She reappeared behind him as he swivelled, both her wakizashis sheathed, twirling Ryusuke's katana in her hand.

"It's been a while since I've used one of these… let's see if I've still got it, shall we?"

* * *

Absolute darkness. That was the only way it could be described. As if the universe had been taken back to an empty void, but this time, two people occupied it. And one currently had a massive advantage over the other. That being that he actually knew where his opponent was.

"Dark Fists!" Rhea felt an augmented fist collide with her cheek, and she instantly felt cold. Flying backwards, she corrected herself and landed in a three-point stance before trying to focus her senses. She couldn't see, but that didn't mean that anything else was affected. So she heard his footsteps, and heard his fist whoosh past her ducking body. Reaching out, she grabbed his outstretched arm, and quickly ascertained where to aim her kick, sweeping at his legs. However, he seemed to know what was coming, since he jumped above her attack. His knee came down on her head, and she quickly rolled away to avoid any follow-up attacks.

"Has despair embraced you yet?" Rhea could practically hear his grin.

"Trust me, I'm not afraid of the dark. Windscythe!" The blades of wind shot towards Markus' now revealed position. Unfortunately for Rhea, he was prepared, and dodged to the side. Not that she knew that, of course. All she heard was a faint whooshing as Markus rushed at her, forcing her to take a large step back, largely guessing where his attack would be coming from. Assuming an overextension with the change in air pressure in front of her, she snapped out a lightning kick which connected with Markus' forearm. She felt something give way beneath her foot, and so pressed the advantage with a sharp straight-armed punch, aimed at where she guessed his face would be. Despite her confidence, it wasn't much of a surprise when she only connected with empty air.

"Darkness Devastation!" The attack splintered at her from behind, and almost washed her away. She was impacted into a wall, front first, her back cracking and several ribs fracturing. She suddenly found it incredibly hard to breathe, and despite the rest of her body feeling freezing, her chest felt warm. Something was wrong. Was she bleeding internally? Had she punctured a lung? No, her breathing may have been ragged and laboured, but not enough for a lung to have been punctured or collapsed. But with obviously broken ribs, how long would it stay that way? She winced as she breathed, every breath a task. Movement was painful on her back, and still her breaths put her in agony. She could almost hear Markus' smugness radiating from him, waving around her like a bad smell.

"Screw this… Gale!" As she shouted, she, with some effort, raised her hands and threw them forwards. What erupted was a vicious wind buffeting the entire room. If not for the deafening rush of wind, cracks forming in walls and the ceiling could be heard, as well as rubble being picked up and flung along with the wind. Rhea, used to this, heard a faint cry, which could have been a shout, and directed the wind towards its origin. She heard several thuds as rubble impacted with what she believed was Markus.

Game over.

The darkness receded and Rhea was forced to shield her eyes. Even the meagre ceiling fixtures were too much for her starved eyes at the moment, but the return of the light meant that she could see one thing:

The game was not over.

It was, in fact, very much still alive. There was still a dome of darkness in the centre of the room, surrounded by rubble, a lot more than had originally been there. Chunks had been ripped from the walls, and grainy earth trickled through the ceiling where Rhea's wind had ripped pieces from it. The darkness receded, and Markus stood, looking no worse for wear, but extremely aggravated. Rhea allowed herself a small smirk for destroying his advantage before pressing.

"Windblade! Gale Rocket!" She was upon him before he could even blink. And before he could register what was happening, there was a large slash across his right flank. Blood spurted and he felt his strength waver. He staggered forwards, and was met with a bone crushing kick to his abdomen as Rhea sped in from behind. He coughed up blood as Rhea continued pummelling him, her Windblade now gone. As more and more hits landed, her expression grew more gleeful, and reached its peak at a small grin. She let out a laugh.

"So is this your plan? Force me into despair by making me beat you to a pulp?" She giggled darkly. "And how's that working for you? If truth be told, I'm not feeling anywhere near despair right now!" With this, she let loose a ferocious uppercut that sent Markus flying, landing on his back. Panting, she dissipated her Gale Rocket technique, and tried standing up straight with hands on her back and ribs. Her face fell to a grimace as she stopped being able to ignore the pain. This was going to be a long journey home.

Laughter. She heard laughter. She turned to face the now standing Markus, looking near death, his eyes sunken and himself covered in blood.

"To think that there was something like this beneath the surface… something that would take such glee in causing me pain. You are very interesting!" Markus still wore a smile, but it was crazed and manic. He was falling over the edge. "But I'm afraid you won't be interesting for very long, being that you've driven me to this! Forbidden Dark Art: The Manifest!"

Rhea grimaced again. She probably couldn't keep going for much longer. Every breath burned, every movement stabbed at her. And all she saw as she readied herself to strike was Markus becoming enshrouded in darkness.

* * *

Shifting rubble aside was incredibly hard work. However, Dean's labours bore fruit, in the unconscious form of Florence. She looked battered, bruised and exhausted, but she was still in one piece, and she was still breathing. Her hair was full of dust, and her signature feather earring was missing. Dean attempted whispering her name in an attempt to awaken her, but it was unsuccessful. He didn't want to shake her, or even try moving her, due to the rubble still covering her lower body, and any unseen injuries he would have no idea of. So he did the one thing he could. He got right in her face, and he screamed.

"Florence! Wake the hell up!" His cry echoed throughout the cavernous corridors. Florence's eyes snapped open, and she shot upwards to a sitting position. However, there was a problem. Dean's face was occupying the space Florence was trying to sit up in. Her forehead collided with the bridge of his nose, breaking it, and sending blood flying.

"What the fuck?!" He staggered backwards, hand to his face. Blood seeped out between his fingers.

"Sorry. Instant reaction." Florence looked, and sounded, very groggy and woozy.

"How are your legs?"

"They're trapped under all this crap, take a wild-ass guess."

"Good thing I'm here then." Dean began shifting the rubble from Florence's lower body. "Damn, still need to find Cyrus…"

* * *

"Gunblade Magic: Deploy!" Celeste span in a circle, Tyrhung held outwards. She was rather lucky that her sword didn't catch in the wall, but it didn't nevertheless, and ten golden spheres appeared in a circle around her. Ryo looked on, amused, until Celeste waved a hand and directed the orbs into a tight circle around him.

"Try moving. I dare you."

So he did. And ten mines blew up in his face. He let out a grunt as Celeste pointed Tyrhung straight at him.

"Full Salvo!" A number of golden projectiles shot forward at Ryo and exploded upon impact, shaking up the corridor. Sounds of fighting behind her did not affect her concentration in the slightest as she barrelled forwards, meeting only empty air as a singed Ryo moved to the side, his back now to the wall.

"You've adapted." Celeste smirked.

"Obviously."

"This could be fun…" she launched herself at him without bothering to reload, instead swinging wildly, missing every time as he moved deftly around her strikes. At last, she overextended, forcing her injured back to flare up in pain, and this gave Ryo the opening he needed. He attacked with a flurry of his own, pummelling her in the midsection. She hit out at his head with the pommel of her sword, connecting with his forehead and forcing him away. He looked dazed for a second, but his eyes quickly cleared up. He rushed at Celeste with a lightning pace, connecting with a straight right to her jaw before having to roll away from a diagonal slash of Tyrhung.

"I hope that you can see you won't win like this… I am adapted to your magic, I can adapt to any pain within seconds and I'm obviously your superior in close-quarters combat." Ryo's face was serious, and he punctuated his point with a jab from his left hand. She ducked underneath him and put a bit of distance between them.

"Then how about I expand the quarters slightly? Reload!" Charges lit up the ticks of Tyrhung, and Celeste let out a grin. Time for a big boom. "Full Salvo!" the projectiles erupted from her blade and shout outwards to the walls on either side of her, exploding upon impact. The walls caved easily enough, allowing Celeste a lot more room for movement, and the smoke helped to obscure Ryo's vision. Unless, of course, he could adapt to that as well. She wouldn't take a chance by leaving him to recover for any amount of time, so she rushed forwards with a newfound vigour, and her blade found its mark, scoring a medium-sized gash across Ryo's cheek, with blood pouring down his jaw as he stepped from the dusty cloud. If he was in pain, which was unlikely due to his magic, he didn't show it. However, the flesh of his face showed no sign of knitting itself back together, so at least that was a plus.

"Congratulations, you have managed to wound me. It will be the last time." Ryo was still impassive.

"From what I've seen, you can't adapt yourself to melee strikes, and you can only adapt to one type of magic at a time. So it won't be the last time, trust me!" Celeste ran at breakneck speed, slashing wildly with her berserker style. Ryo began finding it harder to evade Celeste's strikes, and was visibly straining himself to dodge each of the blows, unable to even mount any kind of counter-attack. Celeste grinned as Ryo snuck beneath and around each slash and stab she aimed for him. Finally, she hit her mark, nicking his leg with a vertical slash, causing him to stumble and allowing her to slice down at his torso. However, he was quick enough to roll beneath her and sweep at her legs, kicking again at the back of her head as she fell on her backside. Waiting for her to get back to her feet, he glared daggers past her, worry etched in his face. It was as his face scrunched in panic upon hearing a scream that Celeste took her opportunity to attack, but Ryo's counter-attack was almost too quick to see. He hit her with a flurry of punches to the head, each more disorienting than the last, pouring every ounce of his being into beating her and reaching the source of the scream, whatever it had been. The only clear thought among a jumble of them rattling in her jarred brain, but Celeste still had enough of her wits left to understand that it meant Aster had won. She couldn't take too long now. Pulling away from her opponent, she de-summoned Tyrhung. She'd be needing something a little different.

"Darkheart!" Celeste held out her right hand as a single-edged sword of pure black appeared in her hand, the darkness lachrima in the pommel almost unseen in its place set among the darkness of the sword. The blade was three feet long, and it seemed as if it was so sharp it could cut you just if you glanced at it. Celeste was immediately on the attack, attacking with a stream of slashes, before jumping through one of the holes she had created in the wall, and loading with a grin.

"I told you that it won't work," sighed Ryo.

"The Gunblade Magic won't. But what about the Darkness Magic it's laced with? Scatter Shot!" Celeste rushed at Ryo, stabbing forward as she did so whilst pulling the small trigger that had appeared upon the hilt of Darkheart. Seven black fireballs were shot from the tip of her blade, straight at Ryo. He opted to take them, which was a mistake, since the darkness magic mixed in meant that the attack still hurt. It wouldn't for long, though. However, before he could adapt himself to the pain and the cold caused by the Darkness Magic, he felt a razor edge slice through his chest, causing him to cough up blood, and allowing his pressurised blood to burst from the wound like a fountain. He coughed again, and more blood came out. He looked up to see Celeste holding Darkheart to her chest, pointing it straight upwards.

"Never tried this without Tyrhung before… oh well! Overload!" Sixty charges rapidly appeared on Darkheart's blade, and small cracks began forming on the sword. The cracks grew larger as Celeste flew forwards, a golden light laced with an incredibly dark purple beginning to envelop her. The light enveloped the blade and expanded it outwards as she began slashing and stabbing at Ryo. "Gunblade Magic: The War Goddess' Pillar!" Celeste's scream cued a huge pillar of gold and purple light erupting around the two, the darkness beginning to overtake Celeste's natural magic as the magic ripped more walls apart, and tore through the ceiling dumping earth and rocks around them. Celeste jumped back as the technique ended, Ryo slumped unconscious on the floor. She allowed herself a triumphant smirk before looking at Darkheart, seeing a spider web of fractures running throughout the blade and grimacing. She sent it back to her requip space after making a mental note to get it repaired, and turned to see Aster stood a few feet from her, smiling.

"Impressive."

"I know." Celeste rubbed the back of her head, grinning. "Remember the plan?"

"Yeah."

"Screw the plan, I want to find more people to beat up!" With this, Celeste set pace at a forward march, trying not to strain the injury on her back too much.

* * *

Rhea stood in awe at the creature stood before her. Where Markus had stood there was now a seven foot tall creature of darkness, with no discernable facial features, small horns jutting off the sides of its head, and rather than clothes, merely wisps of darkness covered its body. It let loose a punch at an unbelievable speed, far too quick for Rhea to follow. It collided with her temple and sent her flying into a wall, aggravating her already injured ribs, and possibly cracking or fracturing a couple of other bones. She again stood, her breathing ragged, her face scrunched in pain, and gave an exasperated sigh.

"Do you like my technique?" The creature's voice was much like Markus', but distorted and booming. It echoed off the walls, and the mere sound of it pained Rhea, the echo making her head feel even worse. Power radiated from the creature, and all she could see right now was her chances of victory falling off a cliff. She realised with anxiety that Markus was stood between her and the door, meaning that the plan had just gone out of the window. Not that she'd have run anyway. Okay, plan B. Wing it.

She exploded forwards with an activation of her Gale Rocket technique, bulleting at Markus with a fist drawn back. She struck out, and recoiled as the impact dislocated two of her knuckles. She moaned as she held her injured limb, glaring daggers at the Markus creature.

"An impenetrable skin of Darkness Magic. Impressive, no?" His following laugh boomed around the room, forcing Rhea to hold her head in pain. This was absolutely ridiculous.

"Darkness Devastation." Her thought was interrupted by the attack almost instantaneously hitting her, forcing her back into the wall yet again, causing a loud gasp as pain flared throughout her body. This time, she struggled to even stand, blood now trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"Windscythe!" The blades span towards Markus at great velocity, but merely dissipated upon his body, leaving Rhea in shock. That was a high level technique, so how the hell could he just ignore it? She didn't have anymore time to muse as he let fly a massive open-hand slap, sending her skidding across the floor, and as she stood, she just saw his grin. Tendrils of darkness reached for her, and she avoided them all deftly, before Markus' grin widened, and he raised his hands again.

"Darkened Skies!" She saw nothing after that. Darkness immediately enveloped her vision as she struggled to find a bearing. Something thudded into her left flank with great force and she was again sent sprawling. Trying to again stand up, she felt a foot stomp down on her. Once. Twice. Thrice. A fourth time. He finally let up, allowing her to stand shakily, her legs threatening to give way beneath her.

"Do you know how despair feels yet?" he chuckled.

"Why the hell are you so obsessed with forcing opponents into despair?" Rhea gasped, falling to one knee.

"Simple: I enjoy breaking my opponents before finishing them off. Nothing more. To make them feel the overwhelming forces of fear and despair, that is the real victory."

"You're messed up."

"I'd check your glass house, you looked rather gleeful when you were pummelling me."

Rhea grimaced. He was right, but she didn't care. "I don't have to justify myself to you, you overgrown asshole."

"It matters not, for this body shall devour you."

"You mean the body that looks like someone painted a condom black and put little horns on it?"

"Your taunts are meaningless. I can feel the despair radiating from you, and so my work is done. Goodnight."

Rhea felt a strong grip around her entire body, most likely one of the tendrils she had evaded before. It dragged her and held her in midair, in front of what she assumed was Markus' face. He was right. She was getting pretty desperate, and she honestly didn't know how she could win. Blanching, she saw a glint of something darker than even the darkness surrounding her, and an idea struck.

_Despair… he always wants his opponent's in complete despair, desperate for a way out, right? Maybe he wants them to beg for death because they can no longer go on living, but what exactly would happen to him if the tables were turned? What if I showed him what complete and utter despair was? Would he be able to carry on?_

She allowed herself a small smirk. "I don't like using this spell too much, it just seems far too cruel to me, and you're right, I guess it does give me a little bit of pleasure to see my enemies in pain, and I don't like that, but you've driven me this far. You're so determined on making me face despair, how about you face it instead? Nightmare." The darkness immediately disappeared as Rhea was dropped unceremoniously to the floor. She watched as Markus reverted to his normal form, curled up in the foetal position, whimpering and moaning. He began screaming soon after, cries of, "No!" echoing through the room in which they had fought. He was locked in the grips of a nightmare, the nightmare of total despair. His screaming soon ceased and only the whimpers remained, until he finally stood, looking at Rhea with empty eyes.

"Please… kill me. I can't take anymore." He slumped back down to his hands and knees, as if he were grovelling. It was a sad sight to see, really, but Rhea's mouth twitched upwards slightly before she corrected it. Delivering a swift kick to his temple, her reply was simple.

"No."

* * *

Ryusuke was in a very tight spot. He had no weapon against a woman who had three, and ways of instantly bypassing his defences. Like she was doing at that very point. Delia's appearance to his left was no surprise, and he took evasive action in rolling forwards. He turned, back against the wall, and watched her rush forwards before narrowly sidestepping a stab aimed for his head. He was now backed into a corner. This was not good. She came slashing, and he evaded, but straight towards an opening rift next to the wall, having to jump desperately back from the swing of his own blade, landing on his backside.

"Twilight Slash!" He straightened his hand to an edge and slashed in Delia's direction, a smaller than normal wave of twilight rushing towards her even as he got to his feet. However, she merely opened a rift to absorb the attack. He was moderately prepared for the attack to hit him in the back, but not prepared enough. He stumbled into a strike to his jaw with the pommel of his blade, Delia following with a ferocious flurry of kicks and punches. Ryusuke staggered backwards, gasping for air.

"You know, I won't hold it against you if you give up now. I really don't want to have to fight you to the death, you know. I'll even give you your sword back." Delia gave a small smile, and Ryusuke was shocked to see that it held no malice or mania.

"Okay, I surrender."

"Good, then get on the floor and you can have this back when we retrieve the Treasure." To emphasise her point, she dangled the blade from her hand.

Ryusuke sighed. "Yeah, I wasn't really giving up. Why the hell do you want that thing so much, anyway?"

Delia's eyes penetrated him as she stared, a small smile still gracing her features. "Personally, I don't. But the big boss seems to think that he needs it for something."

"If you don't want it, then why are you here?"

"Didn't you hear me? My guild master wants it."

"Well, why follow him? You don't seem like a particularly evil person to me, so why go along with this when it's obvious he has some kind of evil act in mind?"

"Why would he have an evil act in mind?"

"He's the master of a dark guild, it's kind of their M.O."

"I follow him because he promised that I'd find strong opponents. I don't really care much about what his plans are, and behold, for here you are. Giving me the most excitement of my life."

"How interesting, a comment I'll be sure they carve into your gravestone."

"That's really big talk for a man who's getting attacked by his own weapon."

"Yeah, funny, that. Twilight Cutter!" He rushed at her, letting loose a kick at her arm before she could react. His leg imbued with Twilight Magic, the impact was great, and she dropped Ryusuke's sword straight into his waiting hand. He slashed, but she had managed to recover herself and disappear into a rift. He looked about himself nervously, before getting a brainwave. He didn't have to stand still. In fact, he was pretty sure he had found a weakness in her magic. There was a time in this fight when she hadn't opened any rifts behind him, despite that being obviously advantageous. He rushed into a corner as quickly as possible, and watched as she emerged to face his vacated position, before turning to find him grinning.

"Appear behind me now."

Delia smirked. "Just because you've found a weakness doesn't mean you're in any less trouble." She drew her wakizashis. "After all, you're still backed into a corner with barely any manoeuvrability!" She rushed at him as he blocked strike after strike, attempting to weather her unrelenting attack, but it wasn't long until his defences had been breached and he was stabbed in the thigh.

"Fuck!" he screamed, fighting the buckling of his limb. He could see a lot of blood falling from the wound, and hoped to any deity that would listen that she hadn't cu through anything too important. She came back at him, manic grin having returned, and although blocked, she pushed into him with both blades trying to force his own into him.

"Aw, am I stronger than you? Too bad this couldn't last any longer, I've really enjoyed this!"

He struggled to push himself outwards, but she really was too strong. She was slowly overpowering him, and he needed a way out quickly. He could pretend to surrender, but he'd already played that card once, and wasn't too optimistic about the chances of it actually working this time around.

"Why not give up?" Her voice broke his musings. "If this goes on much longer, I'm going to end up killing you, and then I'll have to find someone else who excites me this much, and who knows how long that would take?" Her expression was almost sad.

He chuckled. "Normally, I would. I value life. But I'm not fighting for myself here. I'm fighting for my friends, and probably the population of this country too. With that many lives on the line, surrender is not an option. I know I'm probably not gonna win this. In fact, I know my chances of winning are next to nothing. But there's still a chance, so I'm gonna focus on that, and I'm gonna beat you! Because this is one fight I can't fucking lose!" With a mighty yell, he shoved Delia from him. She prepared her weapons, but he attacked before she even had a chance to register it.

"Twilight Spear!" The spear of pure twilight formed near-instantaneously above his head, and a wave of his blade sent it cannoning at Delia. She narrowly evaded it, but he rushed forward to press his advantage, ignoring the blinding pain in his leg. His first attack was blocked, and she slipped through a rift, appearing behind him and stabbing through his back and into his abdomen. He coughed up globs of blood, and fought even harder to stay on his feet, turning to see her sorrowful smile.

"Sorry it had to end like this." She disappeared into another rift, and Ryusuke had to think hard. Her last attack had been directly behind where he had been, so she'd most likely be expecting him to spin around, whereupon she could appear and finish him with a stab from behind. But it was clear that she couldn't see him whilst in that in-between space, as evidenced by her being unknowing of his rush to the corner earlier. He pointed his sword straight in front of him, and, sure enough, saw Delia emerge as Twilight Magic began swirling around the blade. He allowed a victorious smirk.

"Twilight Coffin!" Energy streamed from the tip of his blade, surrounding Delia in a cuboidal box. Within a second of it fully forming, a wave of his sword saw it explode, sending shockwaves through the walls and tearing them to pieces. He himself was blown back and through a wall, landing on his back with a grunt as he began coughing up more blood. Lethargically, he got back to his feet, walking over to find his opponent, to his shock, still standing. Barely, but she was still standing. She was burned, and there was barely a visible inch of her that didn't have her blood covering it. She looked woozy, close to falling. And he was close to falling too.

"You never told me your actual name," she smiled.

"Why do you need to know?"

"You're the best opponent I've faced so far. So I want to remember you."

"Ryusuke Yugure."

"Well, Ryusuke Yugure," a rift opened before her, "I'll give you this round. But I have a feeling we'll meet again, so you'd better be ready to take the beating of a lifetime."

"What are you doing?" He pointed at the rift.

"I'm leaving. Devil's Rage has served its purpose for me, so I no longer need to work for that bastard Thade. It's that simple." She winked. "I'll be seeing you again, really soon." With this, she stepped into the purple void, and Ryusuke sighed. He let his leg give way beneath him and lay upon a pile of rubble. He saw the floor was slick with his blood, but he didn't care. He was so exhausted.

_Maybe just a little nap…_

* * *

AN: Back with a bang, baby! Just one more chapter to wrap things up, then we can move on to the next arc! Has Ryusuke become the first fatality of the story? Who is Thade? The first one will be answered next week, and interestingly, I was originally going to kill Rhea here. She was going to die of a punctured lung after winning in this very chapter. But she didn't. Anyway, I will (hopefully) be back next Monday with the actual conclusion to the Unspoken Treasure arc. Or before then with an omake, there have been a few floating around in my head. Anyway, until next time folks!


	13. End of the Beginning

AN: Well, that was some intense fighting, right? I've left you hanging for a week, is he alive, is he dead? Do I really have the balls to kill off one of my main characters this early in the story? Well, time to find out. Sorry it's late, but I've been worn out all week, and motivation has been hard to come by. Enjoy.

* * *

_Is this the end of the beginning? Or the beginning of the end?_

* * *

**End of the Beginning**

"How you guys holding up?"

"Painfully," Cyrus replied. Honestly, it must have been obvious how they were doing, so why did Dean even bother asking? In truth, he was in terrible shape. Ana had really done a number on him, and he'd done a number on himself with those nunchuks. His abdomen was aching after the impact it had suffered, and the wound on his cheek stung him angrily. And his nose was still broken. All in all, he wasn't exactly in peak physical condition. At least Dean had managed to finish his enemy off after he was indisposed by Florence's little bombing run. Things could have gone south pretty quickly if she was still running around.

"How about you?" Florence asked, "you look like you should be dead."

"I should be freakin' dead," replied Dean. "I'm still running on goddamn fumes."

"Then we need to get out of here and get you to a healer."

"I think we all need one of those right now," Cyrus interjected.

"We're not leaving yet." Dean began striding purposefully forwards.

"Why not?" Florence inquired.

"We still have a mission to finish."

* * *

He was faintly aware of voices around him, but he couldn't find a way to force his eyes open. He was left in darkness, fated only to listen to the machinations of those around him, quite possibly envoys of the afterlife, if such a thing even existed.

"Is he alive?" This voice was female.

"Well, he's breathing…" another female voice, this one laced with concern.

"We should probably try waking him up before we make any assumptions about his health…" another female, this voice speaking with a slight twang, also full of worry.

"Leave it to me," came the first voice. There was an intermission, and a short scuffling, before: "Hey, Ryusuke! Wake the hell up!" The shout was massive, and it hurt his head. Groggily, he managed to force his eyes open, and though his vision was still hazy, he could make out the figures of Rhea, Aster and Celeste.

"Is this hell?" His mind rushed back to his fight with Delia, and the state he had been left in. With that memory, the pain, which had thus far been unknown, wracked his entire body. He was sore all over, with the two wounds on his back on fire. As his vision began to clear, he saw that his three compatriots weren't in the best of shape either, Rhea's face showing a pained grimace every time she tried to breathe, and Aster and Celeste just looking generally beaten up.

"Oh, how nice of you, you see us and your mind immediately jumps to hell!" Celeste snapped.

"Actually, I only really noticed you." He tried sitting up, his head still fuzzy, and slumped forwards.

"I'll be happy to send you to hell, if you keep talking," she growled.

"Has to be better than here." His remark was met with Celeste standing over him menacingly. He gave her a bored look before sliding his legs clear and attempting to get to his feet. He got about halfway there before collapsing back down to his knees.

"Ryu-kun!" Rhea rushed over to him, grabbing his arm to stop him falling completely. "You okay?"

He sighed. "Take a wild guess."

She favoured him with a small smile. "If you can hit snarking of that level, you're fine." She hauled him up by his arm and quickly embraced him. "I thought she'd killed you."

He gave a smirk. "No, no such luck."

"What even happened? Where is she?"

"She left."

"What? Why?"

He replied by relaying the last words Delia had said to him before her departure.

"Sounds like someone has a stalker," she giggled.

"Don't remind me," he groaned.

"Well, we can't be doing with that, can we?" she murmured, barely audible, tracing small circles on his back with her finger.

Celeste coughed. "Anyway, look what we found!" Celeste produced an orb, no more than four inches in diameter, of a pale blue, with magic seemingly swirling around inside it.

"Pass it over here," Ryusuke said, disengaging himself from Rhea. Celeste complied, and Ryusuke held the object in the palm of his hand, examining it closely. His eyes scrutinised every inch of it, before he passed it back to Celeste. "Looks like nothing I've ever seen before."

"We thought the same thing," said Aster.

"Is it supposed to be a lacrima?" Ryusuke asked, "because it does not look like a lacrima to me."

"It would seem so, and I'm guessing it's what we're looking for, since it was on Markus when I beat his ass." Rhea retrieved the item and pocketed it.

Ryusuke, meanwhile, had a startling realisation. "Shit, I let her go, she could have been holding onto it the entire time!" He was mentally kicking himself.

"But she clearly wasn't, so there's nothing to worry about, right?" said Aster.

"Whatever, it's still a major fuck-up." He sighed.

Rhea looked bemused. "You're right, you know. Major fuck-up. Absolutely nothing bad happened, we've successfully completed the mission, all four of us are still alive and we pretty much completely eliminated an enemy! Yeah, you done goofed, I'm gonna have to kick your ass for that."

"Don't say that," Ryusuke groaned.

"Say what? I just said a lot of things."

"Nothing bad happened…"

"Why not? Nothing bad did happen."

He groaned again. "Whenever someone says that, something bad happens near instantaneously." As if on cue, dust fell from the ceiling, and the four heard the entire structure around them creaking. They all paled and shared a look of fear.

"Oh, shit!" Celeste uttered. "What now?"

"I'd suggest running," said Ryusuke. "Very fast."

None of them needed another cue. They all bolted as the room fell apart around them, earth falling from above the ceiling, the very planet seemingly falling in on itself. Massive lumps of what seemed to be metal impacted the floor, buried within clumps of soil and rock. Even as they ran down the hallway, at full pelt, the hallway itself began collapsing, walls and the ceiling buckling and crumbling under pressure.

"Think you might've taken a load-bearing wall, Ryusuke!" joked Aster.

"Is now the time for jokes?" Rhea shouted.

"Sod's fucking law!" Ryusuke screamed as he was nearly brained by a falling rock.

* * *

"Okay, screw the mission!" Dean was running at his full speed alongside Cyrus and Florence, all of them defying the physical limits imposed upon them by their injuries in a desperate attempt to escape the collapsing bunker.

"I agree!" Cyrus hurdled over a fallen piece of debris.

"What about the others?" Florence screamed over the noise of the collapse.

"Hope they find their own way out!" came Dean's reply.

"I say we just get the hell out of here first, we can worry once we can be sure we're staying alive!" Cyrus said.

As the three ran, it was inevitable; the amount of rubble falling about them, that someone was going to get hit. Dean's trailing leg was caught by a medium sized rock, and trapped underneath it. He couldn't shift it, and with the state he was in, the bunker falling apart around him, he couldn't just drag himself away. This is it, he thought. I'm finished. Not by battle, not in a blaze of glory, but by a goddamn falling building. Much to his dismay, Cyrus and Florence noticed his absence and rushed back to him, worry etched into their features.

"Dude, can you move?" Cyrus said.

"No, not with this thing. Just go, both of you. Even if I could get out, I'll probably just slow you down, my leg feels ruined. Better only I die than all three of us, right?"

"Hell no!" Florence screamed. "Enough of that clichéd bullcrap! We're not leaving you!"

"Talking of clichéd bullcrap…" Dean sighed.

Almost as if they were synchronised, Florence and Cyrus rushed to the offending object, and with great strength considering their conditions, heaved the rock from Dean's leg. He emitted a grunt through gritted teeth, but endured the pain as Cyrus heaved him up to a shoulder and started sprinting again. He was already pretty much destroyed, so what was a little bit more pain?

"Stairs!" Cyrus shouted.

"I see 'em!" replied Florence. As she spoke, the rumbling of the structure amplified, and the speed of the collapse increased. By this point, it looked like a mission to even get to the stairs which were, at best, ten seconds of running away.

"You know, if this were a movie, I'd say those guys are alive, they've grabbed the frickin' thing and someone's set a trap that makes the goddamn building collapse!" Cyrus said.

"You have a really overactive imagination…" sighed Florence.

The entire structure crumbled. Dust rose in plumes as rubble and earth crashed to the floor, the meagre barrier between the soil and the bunker giving way with a boom as the corridors were opened up to the sunlight above. Any life in the underground area would have been extinguished by the huge falling mass, the rocks littered about the place becoming their gravestones. How fortunate then, that Florence, Cyrus and Dean had managed to hurl themselves up the staircase to freedom before they were entombed. Shielding his eyes from the blinding light, Cyrus dumped Dean off his shoulder before plopping himself down on his backside, breathing out a sigh of relief. Florence soon joined him, lying back and giving an exhausted grunt. Oh, what they'd all give for a little bit of rest…

"What about the treasure?" moaned Florence.

"It's buried under all that crap, I doubt anyone's finding it anytime soon…" Dean sighed.

* * *

"I get the sinking feeling that we're forgetting something." Ryusuke panted, heaving in breaths of the fresh air.

"Like what?" Rhea was sat down, propped up on her arms, grimacing at every breath.

"Shit…"

"What?"

"Florence, Cyrus and Dean." Realisation was dawning on him.

"Crap!" Celeste exclaimed. "You think they got out?"

"Like I have a fucking clue," he sighed. It had been a really long day.

"Just shut up, asshole," she growled.

"Just a warning," began Rhea, "if you two start arguing, I'm going to knock some sense into both of you."

"I have enough sense, thanks." Ryusuke sank down and lay spread-eagled on a small patch of grass.

"Clearly you don't, so I suggest you shut the hell up."

"I agree," Aster moaned from her spot a few yards away, barely able to keep her eyes open.

"Should we try finding them?" Celeste inquired.

"You can, I doubt I can move." He wasn't lying. His limbs all felt like lead at that moment in time.

Suddenly, a piercing shout penetrated the air. "Hey!"

"Found them," Ryusuke stated.

"Well done," Rhea replied, sarcasm evident in her tone.

The four were unmoving as their companions came to their position. Dean was limping heavily, having to lean on Cyrus for support. He cracked a small smile upon seeing them.

"You all look like shit," said Dean

"You can barely walk," Aster said.

"Three-quarters of you can't even stand," Dean joked.

"We can," said Ryusuke. "We just choose not to."

Rhea snorted. "Well that's a lie."

"Go fuck yourself."

"Believe me, I would if I could, have you seen me?"

"Narcissist."

"Depressing bastard."

Cyrus coughed. "Should we not be, y'know, leaving?"

"You know, I find I've grown quite attached to my lovely little grassy patch," said Ryusuke.

"Besides, the Magic Council will be coming soon, so we can just give this to them," Rhea agreed, producing the orb.

Ryusuke jumped to his feet. "Yeah, let's go."

"Why?" Rhea gave an exasperated sigh.

He sighed as well. "Two reasons. Number one, do you want to explain this to them?" He gestured at the devastation. The massive craters in the ground, filled with lead, stone and earth. "Number two, cast your mind back to six years ago. You really wanna trust the Council with what is potentially a devastating weapon?"

"He has a point," said Aster. "Besides, they'll probably keep us for hours! I just wanna go home to my nice bed…"

"Wait a minute," Florence interjected, "is that what I think it is?"

"That depends what you think it is," replied Ryusuke.

"The Unspoken Treasure?"

"Yup. Any more questions? No? Good, let's get going. Preferably quickly."

"You know, that name gets even stupider the more I hear it," noted Cyrus.

Rhea and Aster, with some effort, managed to haul themselves to their feet, and with that, the group took off.

* * *

"Come on, Andrea, I want to see you laugh again!" Lucina giggled.

"Then make me," replied Andrea.

"That's about as likely as an ancient goddess of fucking destruction awakening from an eternal sleep and trying to wipe everything in the universe from existence!" exclaimed Puzzlebox, May mewling in agreement. This made Andrea break out into a fit of laughter.

"Oh my god, what the hell?! That's… that's just weirdly specific!" She was almost falling off her chair.

Meanwhile, watching the whole scene with confusion was Styles. "What the hell is wrong with humans?" he sighed to himself. He was overheard, however, by Lucina.

"You know you're a human too, right?"

"Unfortunately," he spat in reply, before walking away.

"Someone needs to lighten up," Lucina said, her voice lyrical.

"I think we need to concentrate on the fact that Andrea doesn't seem to be getting enough oxygen." Puzzlebox looked over to see Andrea still giggling in fits.

"Oh, she'll be fine! And if not, I get a free drink!" Lucina smiled.

"I think your sense of humour still needs some work, Lu," replied Puzzlebox.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the guild hall, Bane was conducting his usual activity: drinking. Taking a swig from his hip flask, he felt a twinge of guilt. He had sent seven of his guild out on a mission that had been meant for him, and most likely put them in danger. He couldn't really leave the guild, but that didn't change the fact that he was worried. They'd been gone for a couple of days, and for all he knew, they could be dead. No, he thought. They're all tougher than that, there's no way they've come close to dying. With a bang, the double doors swung open, and Bane's head snapped around. Had they been successful? Were they all alive? To his dismay, however, his questions were destined to go unanswered, as the figure striding through the entrance was none other than Rosa Caliburn. She carried a suitcase, and upon noticing Bane, walked over to him.

"Hello, Bane."

"Hey, Master," he sighed wearily. "How'd the conference go?"

"The same as it does every year. Since you're here, I'm assuming you've completed that mission then?"

"Actually, no. I didn't think leaving the guild would be the best idea with some of the… personalities."

Rosa gave a thoughtful nod. "Why not just leave Rhea in charge?"

Bane gave her a sceptical look. "The same reason you didn't just send me out and leave her in charge yourself."

"Now, now, she does have the capacity to be a responsible adult."

"Sometimes. The rest of the time she's a menace."

"I don't necessarily think that's true, Bane. She might be quirky, but she does have a good head on her shoulders. Where is she, anyway?"

"I sent her team out on the mission. With Dean's."

She gave a small frown. "Are you sure that was a wise move?"

"There are seven of them, all of them are pretty damn tough. I'm sure they're fine."

"That's why I'm unsure. With just one person, it would be easy to sneak around and get information, and infiltrate locations. With seven of them, that would prove more difficult."

"The amount of dark guilds sure to be after this thing, I'm guessing there'd be a lot of enemies to face."

"Easily evaded by just one combatant."

"Have you seen me? I'm not exactly built for stealth." He laughed. Their conversation was interrupted by the doors once again flying open with a bang, seven figures lumbering lethargically through, Dean leaning on Cyrus' shoulder. Both Bane and Rosa took in the appearances of all seven, and their jaws almost dropped. By all rights, they should all be dead, the state they were in. Both rushed over to the group, worry in their faces.

"What happened?" asked Rosa.

"A fight," Ryusuke piped up. "We won."

"Doesn't look like it," Bane stated.

Rhea grinned, producing the orb from her pocket. "One lacrima."

"With a stupid-ass name," said Cyrus.

"No-one cares, Cyrus," sighed Florence.

"Just because no-one cares about you," he retorted.

"Wow, you're a jerk!" She exclaimed.

"Heh, thanks!"

Rosa had a dark look on her face. "All of you, infirmary, now. I cannot believe you let yourselves get in this state."

"Ha! You should see the other guys!" boasted Celeste.

"That's enough," Rosa replied.

"In fairness, it's not like this was intentional," Dean offered.

"Upstairs. Now." She turned and began leading the way, prompting them to follow.

"Yeah," began Ryusuke, "just to tell you, Dean was nearly dead, so I had to stitch him up, I may have made it worse in the long run." As they walked, Bane remembered something, shouting over to the departing group.

"Celeste!" The aforementioned girl turned. "Your mother sent a message; she wants to see you…"

* * *

AN: That was long, and tedious, and took so much effort, and I had so little motivation, and bleurgh. Still, I got it done. I'm worn out from life, but I did it. So yay me. Still not happy with this, but it's basically just wrapping up loose ends, so I can't really complain if it seems underwhelming after the end-to-end action of the last few chapters. Still. Well, your very tired author is signing off now, so farewell for now.


	14. Not Good Enough For Truth in Cliche

AN: Ladies and gentlemen (and genderless aliens) I am pleased to present you with: a new arc! Also, I am changing my update day to Tuesday. Enjoy, folks!

* * *

_This blood on my hands is something I can not forget…_

* * *

**Not Good Enough For Truth in Cliché**

Aster was bored. Barring one small mission that took her to the outskirts of the city, the past fortnight had been incredibly uneventful. No good missions, no massive danger, and not even chaos in the guild hall. More than half of the guild was absent, on missions or other business, and the emptiness of the guild hall without them was evident. It was quiet. Calm. Almost too calm, in fact. There was a distinct lack of pranking, most likely due to the fact that Celeste was trying to singlehandedly complete every job on the request board, no matter how banal. Something was off, that was for sure, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She knew that Celeste wouldn't normally take all of those jobs, but had no idea as to why she might have been motivated to do so. She took a sip of her drink before looking around the sparsely populated guild hall. Dean was sat across the room, shirtless, his torso still covered in bandages. He was enjoying conversation with Florence, who was sat across from him. Eiko, Nui and Viktor were enjoying a drink together, Eiko and Nui's hyperactivity at least injecting some life into the otherwise dead room. Ryusuke was sat in a corner as far away from everyone else as he could possibly be, reading. Aster thought back to his agreement to a rematch. A grin adorning her face, she sidled over to his current position, but was cut off by his voice as she neared.

"You have now entered the danger radius, you have five seconds to leave before the danger occurs."

Aster was dumbfounded. "What the hell are you-?"

She was interrupted by his right hand rising into the air. "Five, four, three, two," he was interrupted himself.

"Geez, alright, I'm going!" She walked away huffing, directing herself over to where Florence and Dean were currently sat.

Ryusuke sighed. "I really should start taking these home…"

* * *

"Gunblade: Full Salvo!" Celeste let her grin fall slightly as the final lizardman fell. She was currently in a small village close to Onibus, a village that had been, until recently, troubled by lizardmen attacking their food supplies. It wasn't exactly the usual kind of job she'd take, but it paid thirty thousand jewels, and it was a fight. She had recently felt compelled to take as many jobs as she possibly could, keeping herself busy all the time. God knows why, but it had been some kind of urge. Well, it had made her pretty rich, at the very least. Two weeks of non-stop missions and not much spending tended to fill a person's coffers. She let out a resigned sigh as she walked to pick up her reward.

Her walk was a short one, and soon she was thirty thousand jewels better off, with nothing to do other than head home. She'd probably pick up another request when she got back, feeling unable to just sit down and relax. She hadn't seen her own bedroom in a week, and she didn't care. Something was forcing her to work herself hard, she didn't know what, and she didn't particularly care. She had an idea, but chose not to entertain it. Really, it was something she didn't want to have to confront. However, it was a lonely walk, and it would take at least a couple of hours, so it was difficult to keep the thought from popping into her head. She tried to focus on different things, but every time she ran out of things to say to herself it was back again, gnawing on her mind like a starving squirrel on a nut.

She resolved herself to pick a mission that was easily accessible by train next time, since an hour into her walk, she was getting slightly aggravated. She had nothing to do but walk and think, and thinking wasn't going too well. She kicked a rock she walked past and immediately regretted it, cursing and cradling her injured limb. She now wasn't facing completely forward, and it was this change in her field of vision that saved her life. She saw something green and brown, the colour of the trees around her, move. Trees don't move, she thought. That is, until a walking tree clubbed at her with a branch. Or an arm. She was forced into a backflip to evade the strike, landing in a three-point stance before summoning Tyrhung to her. She rushed at the walking tree, slashing it into two. Examining the corpse of the tree, she found it now lacked all of the features it had before. There were no holes in the trunk detailed as eyes, no finger-like protrusions from branches, nothing. It was now just an uprooted, broken tree. The quizzical occurrence played on Celeste's mind for a second. Suddenly, silence. No noise around her at all. The atmosphere around her had become ominous. Dark clouds gathered above her, as if it were about to rain. The wind whispered nothings in her ears. Branches creaked. Leaves hissed. The trees themselves told tales older than time. Celeste span around on the spot. She saw nothing amiss in the gloom. Shadows danced. Movement. Something was moving. She held Tyrhung ready. Twigs snapped behind her. She hurled herself round. Nothing. Again, twigs snapped behind her. Spinning again, she found nothing. But something felt wrong. Very wrong. Wails. Ethereal wails echoed through the forest. They were getting closer. Instinct would have told anyone else to run. But Celeste Arturia wasn't anyone else. She never backed down from a fight. Even as several trees uprooted themselves and groaned at her, stretching their newly freed limbs, she let loose a grin.

"Gunblade: Load!" She readied herself in the centre of the creatures, flashing her sharp-toothed grin to all six of them. No, seven. Eight. Nine! They didn't seem to be ending. Soon she'd be fighting the entire forest. Bring it on! She could take any number of tree creatures, no matter how strong they were! "Salvo!" Nine ticks produced nine projectiles, all of which connected with a tree creature, blowing a hole in each individual one, reverting them back to regular trees. Her grin remained as she heard moaning, but what emerged from the trees was horrifying. Dilapidated bodies, practically corpses, were shuffling slowly towards her. She saw innards falling out, and smelled rotting flesh. It made her gag. Her eyes watered. She remembered passing a small graveyard on her way out of the village, and it dawned on her that these may actually be zombies, reanimated by someone's magic. Which meant there was someone controlling the occurrences around her. Which meant there was someone she had to beat.

"Gunblade: Full Salvo!" She let loose all twenty-one of her remaining charges at the reanimated dead, rushing after her projectiles, Tyrhung ready to swing. She almost literally ran into one that her salvo had missed, and instantly bifurcated the corpse, leaving blood to pool and rotting innards to decorate the pathway. She found the last one, still trying to stand after having its leg blown off. She decapitated it, the head rolling past her feet before coming to a stop, a hungry look frozen on the face. She fought the urge to vomit at the smell and made her way back to the path, taking care not to step in any innards or blood. She didn't want to be dealing with that smell all the way home.

Out of nowhere, a whisper. She couldn't comprehend the words, or even the gender of the speaker. A simple whisper, right in her mind, before it all went dark. An instant later, she was confronted by images from her own mind.

* * *

"_Kick left! Punch right! Forearm!" Zander Ealdwine shouted at his adoptive granddaughter, Celeste Arturia. She was working hard to keep up with his instructions, but the advanced level he held her to was a bit too advanced for a six year old. She didn't care, though. She wanted to become better so that she could challenge stronger opponents, and eventually work her way up to being the best mage in Fiore! That dream seemed quite far away, however, as Zander bopped her on the nose._

"_You shouldn't let yourself get so easily distracted." He rested a hand on her head and gave a smile. "You could probably use a rest, so let's give it half an hour before we get back to it, hm?" Celeste nodded eagerly at the aging man, before running off to find a drink._

_Sipping on her juice, Celeste was smiling. She knew that with Zander's training, she'd be able to reach her goal. However, right now, she was just enjoying spending time with her family. She felt like there was such a difference between her and her mother, with her mother being so serious, but Zander was a lot more easy-going. She disliked serious people, so her mother was oftentimes a bit too much. She loved her very much, but there was a time limit as to how long they could spend together before someone got annoyed. Usually her mother. She heard a male scream. It sounded a lot like Zander. Her heart filled with worry as she rushed, her beverage forgotten, to try and aid him._

"_Grandpa!" she shouted, her eyes filling with tears. She arrived in the training room, her mother already by Zander's side, carefully trimming what looked like an arrow of some kind that was stuck in his leg._

"_I'm okay, Celeste, nothing too serious, just a leg wound, after all..."_

* * *

_Celeste was nine. She had been training with Gunblade Magic for around a year now, and she was getting good at it. She wasn't as good as her mother or grandpa, despite being trained since she was able. She put this down to her age, small frame and lack of experience. She'd get there soon enough. Her face erupted into a smile as she saw her father waving at her from the doorway as he made his way back into the house, her still playing outside. Rushing over to meet him, she saw his mouth turn upwards as he bent down to pick her up. As she reached him, he roughly shoved her out of the way. Having just eaten a mouthful of dirt, she was eager to know why. However, upon turning to face her father, she let out a sorrow-filled scream. She screamed until her voice was hoarse and her lungs could produce no more air. Sticking out of her father's forehead: a crossbow bolt._

* * *

Celeste snapped back to reality. Wiping tears from her eyes, she shook with rage. Whoever had controlled the corpse, animated the trees, she had a hunch that that was the same person who had just forced her to relive her most painful memory. They would pay, and they would pay dearly.

"Show yourself!" she screamed. "Show yourself so I can KICK YOUR ASS!"

There was no reply. The clouds had parted to reveal a clear sky, birds continued their songs, and the wind whistled cheerfully through the branches. However, the aftermath of her battle was still around her. She wasn't imagining things. At least something positive had come out of reliving those memories, and it was that the thought she had been trying to avoid was spot on the money. Still, just because she knew it was true didn't mean she couldn't keep ignoring it.

She had been walking for almost two and a half hours, minus the time it took for her to conduct the most confusing fight of her life. This had brought her, finally, to the edge of Onibus, and she was relieved to be back where people were, and not where she was stuck with her thoughts. She definitely intended to take someone else on her next mission. Hell, she'd even be happy with Ryusuke. Or Styles. Just anyone that would keep her out of her own head.

"You know, you should stop avoiding going to see your mom." Celeste's head whipped round to find Rhea leaning on the side of a building.

"What makes you think I'm doing that?" asked Celeste.

"Your mom says she wants you to go visit, then for two weeks you absent yourself from the guild to go on missions. Either you're trying to work yourself to death, or you're avoiding seeing her."

"I dunno what you're talking about." Celeste turned to walk away. That thought was again at the forefront of her mind. She was avoiding going to see her mother. The two had never gotten along very well, her adoptive grandfather often having to act as a peacemaker, and though she loved her mother, she didn't really want to be in her presence unless she positively had to be. To her annoyance, Rhea caught up with her, keeping stride even as Celeste tried upping her speed.

"I can go with you if you want, give you some moral support?"

Celeste huffed. "I don't need any moral support!"

"Okay then, the entire team. All of us will go with you. How's that sound?"

"Alright. Deal."

This confused Rhea slightly. "Really? I thought it'd be harder than that."

She flashed a grin. "I just wanna see Ryusuke's face when you try making him come."

Their conversation had brought them to the front doors of the guild hall. They swung open under pressure from Rhea, revealing the emptiness within. However, the two people they wanted to talk to were both there, so they strode in.

"You go talk to Aster," said Rhea.

Celeste gave a grin. "Okay, but I'm watching." She sidled over to where her friend was sat reading a book, absentmindedly fondling a straw in her drink. "Hey Aster."

Aster looked up to find Celeste grinning at her. "Oh, hey! You finished your mission, then."

"Yup! On a completely unrelated note, wanna come to Crocus with us?"

"Anywhere's better than here." Aster slammed her book shut and Celeste turned round to watch the show.

"Hey, Ryu-kun!"

"You have now entered the danger radius, you have five seconds to leave before the danger occurs." He began counting, but she just grinned at him until he reached zero.

"So, what's the danger?" she giggled.

"I dunno, I've never actually finished the countdown. What do you want?"

"Wow, not even a hello! So rude, Ryu-kun."

He sighed. "Maybe I'd be a bit more polite if you stopped calling me that."

"Calling you what?" She wore a sly smirk on her face.

"You know what."

"No I don't…"

"You're just trying to make me say it."

She gave another giggle. "Now, why would I do that?"

"Because in your world, that would make it okay for you to say it."

"It's okay for me to say it anyway."

He gave a small smile, which betrayed his words. "No it is not. Now, what do you want?"

"We're going to Crocus."

"Magnificent." He took a swig of his drink.

"Really? That's it?"

"Yup."

"Alright, awesome!" She walked over to Celeste, grinning. "So, how'd you like the look on his face?"

Celeste grinned back. "Just wait for it."

* * *

An hour later, both Celeste and Aster were ready, still waiting for Rhea. She looked over to Ryusuke, who hadn't moved except to get a new book, and chuckled. It was coming. Rhea joined them, a bag on her shoulder, beaming at the two before making her way over to the man.

"Ryu-kun, we're going now."

Without looking up, he replied, "okay. Bye."

She gave a puzzled look. "You're coming with us, you know that, right?"

"I remember agreeing to no such thing."

"You did, just before." She scratched her head.

"I merely acknowledged that you were going."

Beaming at him, she said, "yeah, well you're coming anyway."

He sighed. "No I'm not."

She placed an arm round his shoulder and leaned in closer to him, her wide smile still there. "Yeah y'are."

"You're not forcing me into doing this, Rhea."

She gave a devilish smirk. "Oh, really?"

* * *

"I hate you." Ryusuke almost had an aura of glumness around him as he took his seat on the train. He was, to his dismay, in a window seat, which rather limited his options for escape were his three companions to become too much.

"Don't lie to me," Rhea grinned.

"I'm not. I really do hate you." He sighed. This was going to be a long day.

"There you go again. Don't become a spy, your deception skills are terrible."

"I'll have you know that my skills are top notch."

"Well, I'm yet to see proof of that." She stuck out her tongue at him.

"Good, that's rather the point."

Rhea's retort was cut off by Celeste plonking herself into her seat with a loud groan. "Why the hell did I let you rope me into this?"

"I feel the same way," said Ryusuke, leaning back in his chair, eyes closed.

Ignoring him, Rhea replied, "because you know I'm right."

"I hate it when that happens," Celeste mumbled.

"Celeste, why exactly are you so reluctant to see your mom?" Aster finally sat down as the train began moving.

"You'll understand," she muttered, "soon you'll all understand."

Aster gave a sly smile. "Anyway, Ryusuke, now that I have you…"

"Piss off."

* * *

"The Arturia brat is moving, but she seems to have picked up an entourage." Photographs popped out of a lacrima in front of a man sat at a desk, situated in a lavishly decorated study, filled with antiques and old scrolls and books. There were seven pictures, each of a high quality, displayed in a holographic projection. There were photos of each Celeste, Aster, Ryusuke and Rhea, as well as three of them together, boarding the train, and two whilst they were on it, taken from across the aisle.

"It is of no matter. I know of two of them, they are members of the Angel's Breath guild with the girl, but that man doesn't ring a bell. Do you have a name?"

"His name is Ryusuke Yugure. He is also a member of that guild, as our sources tell me. You might recognise the name of his mentor."

"And what name would that be?"

"Clair Valdea."

The man at the desk paled, his shaking hand being bunched into a fist. "That woman… ruining our plans time and time again in the past! Send out the order to kill them all. Their guild must be destroyed as well, we cannot risk that they too have become embroiled in the plans of the Arturias."

"Do it yourself," his subordinate smirked. "Your real second-in-command took a plunge around two hours ago."

The man at the desk stood up, his eyes filled with rage. "Who exactly are you… and what did you do with Jensen?"

"It doesn't matter, and I killed him. I thought that would be pretty obvious." His eyes gained a murderous glint. "Follow me, you'll follow him."

"Then why help me?"

The man smirked as he walked out of the door, throwing off his suit jacket and wrapping a long, tattered black cloak around himself. "I have my reasons." The Wanderer's smirk grew as he walked further away, and outside into the gloom. "Well, well, little angels, let's see how you do when the enemy is coming straight for you…"

* * *

AN: So, good, bad, average? Let me know, folks! Anyway, let's count up what I gave you guys in 3000 words, shall we? You got mysterious happenings, a bit of backstory, a name-drop, something vague about plans and The Wanderer showed up. Of course, this wouldn't be Fairy Tail without the fighting, so expect some more battles coming your way. Until next week, folks.


	15. Of All These Yesterdays

AN: Happy Tuesday! I was having a think about this thing, and I realised that it wouldn't even exist without Undine's Cove by Dreadburner94. If it wasn't for reading that story, this would be set in the Fairy Tail guild with a completely different Ryusuke as the main character. Instead you get a much more jerkass Ryu as one of the mains with all these lovely, well-created OCs around! So thanks, Dread. Also, I, for some reason, decided to think of VAs that would fit these characters. I managed Jonny Yong Bosch as Bane, that's it xD Anyway, I've rambled on enough, enjoy your regularly scheduled instalment of Angel's Breath!

* * *

_We were never meant to make it this far…_

* * *

**Of All These Yesterdays**

"Nice place." Rhea looked about herself at the magnificent city of Crocus. In front of her was a large, single-storey building, a sign above oak doors reading 'Lohr Dojo'. The façade of the building was bright, but other than that, it was demonstrative only of simplicity, the simple brick walls matching with utilitarian windows, and a side door that could be mistaken for part of the wall if not for the frame. However, annexed to the dojo was a generously proportioned two-storey building, clearly some form of residence for the person, or persons, who ran the dojo. A couple of the windowsills were adorned with flowerbeds, accentuating the already impressive array that littered the sides of the cobblestone street, filled with blooms including cornflowers and daffodils. A look up would reveal Mercurius, the royal palace of Fiore, and a look even further would show Domus Flau, the stadium of the Grand Magic Games.

"Eh, it's home." Celeste tried to suppress a small smile. "Alright, you coming or not?!" She led the way down a short path to the door of the residential annex, and, without knocking, emphatically flung it open with a loud, "you called?!" Her three companions followed, a little more tentatively, stepping over the threshold, Aster nudging the door closed behind her. They stood in an impressive hallway, easily wide enough to walk three abreast, a staircase set in the centre leading to the first floor, three light fixtures set in the ceiling at equidistant intervals leading to a door at the far end, which was currently being traversed by a woman of five feet nine inches, looking to be in her early forties.

"Celeste," she said, "it's good to see you again." She moved in to hug the aforementioned girl, who returned the embrace.

"Hey mom," Celeste replied.

Celeste's mother disengaged her embrace and looked over to the three strangers currently standing in her hallway. As she looked over, the three got a better look at her. She was fit and toned, with a light tan and a small chest. Her blonde hair barely fell into her eyes, and long bangs framed her face, with a ponytail stretching down her back to the very top of her rear. At that time, she was wearing a black, split-tail suit, with a grey dress shirt, black tie, black dress shoes and black gloves.

"Oh, I see you brought friends. It's nice to meet you all, I am Camille Arturia, Celeste's mother." She gave them a small smile.

"It's nice to meet you too!" Rhea beamed. "I'm Rhea Yokoshima!"

"Aster Eistir," said Aster warmly.

Ryusuke, meanwhile, was dumbfounded by the politeness of this woman, and the direct contrast to her daughter. The only reply he could muster was, "are you sure?"

* * *

In a graveyard somewhere away from the main streets of Crocus, a young girl hummed a dark tune. She was sat in a crypt full of cobwebs, dirt and mould, but she seemed to be completely at home. Out of nowhere, she gave a small giggle. "It'll be soon, my friends. Soon we can rid the world of more liars and cheaters!"

* * *

The five sat in a spacious room occupied by two plush, three-seater sofas, and two chairs of the same black design. The walls were painted a lovely silver, with a grand fireplace sat in the middle of the far wall. There was a large bay window with a view of a small back garden, with deep red curtains sitting undrawn, allowing in vast amounts of the afternoon sun. Celeste and Camille both occupied chairs, whilst Rhea and Aster shared a sofa, Ryusuke taking one to himself, a large red fist mark on his cheek.

"So, mom," Celeste began, "what do you want?"

Camille frowned. "There is no need to be so rude, Celeste. Honestly, sometimes I do question how I managed to raise you with an apparent lack of any manners."

Celeste merely grinned. "You hit me on the head a lot during training. And whenever I made a joke. Seriously, it's like you have no sense of humour!"

Camille sighed. "Celeste, I wouldn't consider booby trapping every door in the house a joke."

"Oh, come on!"

"I didn't regain my sight for three hours."

"And it was funny!"

Camille turned to the other three occupants of the room. "I trust that none of you have been encouraging her?"

Rhea gave the most innocent face possible, punctuating it with, "absolutely not, ma'am!"

Aster burst out laughing, Ryusuke giving a small chuckle, while Camille began rubbing her forehead. "Why do I not believe you?"

"I have no idea, I strive to be the perfect role model for all the younger members of the guild!" said Rhea, maintaining a look so innocent that a halo wouldn't be out of place upon her.

"In that case, it isn't going very well," stated Ryusuke.

"We're all doomed," joked Aster, sounding defeated.

"It's like having two Celestes," Ryusuke said.

"Hey!" Celeste protested, "two of me would be amazing!"

"Only because you'd have someone to help with some of your more elaborate pranks," teased Rhea.

Camille gave a light chuckle. "Anyway, Celeste, have you done anything interesting since I saw you last?"

"The same as usual, 'cept I got to kick some guy's ass who thought he could adapt himself to my magic," replied Celeste.

"Well, she destroyed an underground bunker near Era," offered Rhea, smirking.

Camille sighed. "Just what am I going to do with you, Celeste?"

"Hey!" she protested. "You don't know that it was me!"

"It probably was, though," Aster teased.

Celeste quickly changed the subject, looking up at a large portrait above the fireplace, depicting a much younger Celeste with her mother and another man. "Hey, mom, where's Grandpa?"

"I'm afraid he had business to attend to elsewhere," Camille replied, "I don't know when he'll be back, I'm sorry."

"Well, what did he have to do that's so important?" Celeste asked.

"I don't know, he had to rush off before he could say anything. I'm sure he'll return soon, though."

"Well, that's a bummer."

"I'm sure you'll have a nice time here anyway," Camille told her daughter.

Celeste gave a grin. "In case you don't remember, we can't be in the same room for more than ten minutes without fighting." Her grin devolved into mania. "Speaking of, wanna go to the dojo and spar, like we used to? I think it's about time I beat you!"

Camille favoured her daughter with a small smile. "If you insist."

Celeste jumped up before turning to her friends, grin maintained. "You guys wanna watch?"

Ryusuke raised an eyebrow. "Watch you get beaten down? Wouldn't miss it for the world."

* * *

Camille had changed into a long black overcoat covering a royal blue shirt with a turtleneck collar, the sleeves of the coat disappearing into a pair of metal gauntlets. She wore a pair of black pants tucked into knee-high combat boots with small armour plates at the ankles. Her chest was adorned with a large breastplate over her coat, decorated with black trim and royal blue embellishments.

"Well then, dear mother," Celeste smirked, summoning Tyrhung. "Time to go. Load!"

Camille gave another small smile as she summoned a steel broadsword known as Arturia's Tear, with a gold hilt and gold embellishments adorning the lower half of the blade. The handle was wrapped in blue cloth, and the blade was approximately three and a half feet in length, four and a half inches in width. "Load."

A grin emerged in full swing on Celeste's face as she swung Tyrhung at her mother one-handed.

"Your style is still reckless and sloppy, Celeste. Honestly, what's the point of knowing so many sword styles if you're not going to use them? You really are a berserker." Camille sighed.

"Ha! Doesn't matter, it's proven to be effective time and time again!" she replied as she dodged a clinical horizontal slash from Arturia's Tear. She was forced to jump back as Camille stabbed forward, now pointing Tyrhung at her mother. "Artillery Strike!" A large, golden shot was fired forward, straight at Camille. She jumped to the side, stabbing towards Celeste.

"Artillery Strike!" Five charges were consumed as a relatively large projectile left the tip of the blade, a lighter gold in colour than Celeste's magic. The shot travelled towards Celeste at a high velocity, but the girl was able to perform an impressive jump, clearing it, and she used her momentum to propel herself towards her mother, locking blades once again.

"Remember when I flooded this place? It was like now, only with a lot more screaming," Celeste grinned.

Camille merely gave a sigh. "Please don't remind me." She pushed her daughter to the side, giving a controlled diagonal slash that forced Celeste to backpedal rapidly. She wasn't done, however. "Salvo!" Ten charges were consumed as ten golden projectiles erupted from the tip of Arturia's Tear, barrelling at Celeste at incredibly high velocity. The girl jumped desperately clear, causing the shots to detonate on the plain white wall, leaving sizeable scorch marks on the wallpaper. Camille sighed. "Why does this dojo always get destroyed whenever you're here, Celeste?"

Celeste gave a booming laugh. "Oh, and you have the gall to criticise me, mother!"

"How did I manage to raise a daughter as ill-mannered as you?"

"I already told you, you hit me on the head a lot!" She rushed at her mother, engaging in a furious melee battle, both swordswomen slashing and stabbing each other at great pace.

"Is that why you choose to dress so immodestly?"

"Great, fashion tips from a woman who looks like she belongs in the window display in a cheap men's clothing store! Point-blank Shot!" Celeste pulled the trigger of Tyrhung as she swung, causing an explosion to encompass both her and Camille. Camille came out of it looking slightly scorched, an angry vein throbbing in her forehead.

"Cheap… men's clothing store? Young lady, you have gone beyond my expectations of your rudeness…" Camille rushed at her daughter, her style still perfectly composed as she slashed down. "Overload."

"Oh, full throttle, huh?" Celeste's grin grew even wider. "Damn, this is fun! Overload!" Both women's swords were filled with sixty charges, and Celeste readied herself to be the first to strike.

"The War Goddess' Pillar!" She rushed towards Camille, a golden light enveloping Tyrhung, extending it beyond its usual length. She slashed several times at her mother, with each strike being narrowly dodged. She gave a powerful downwards slash, golden energy erupting in a pillar around her. When the energy dissipated, there was a huge scorch mark on the white ceiling. Camille, who had dodged the strike, looked up and sighed.

"Uh-huh…" Celeste looked on at her mother, who seemed to have emerged unscathed from her strongest attack.

"The War Goddess'-" Camille's declaration was interrupted by a knife shattering the window, flying thirty feet across the room and embedding itself in the wall, tracing a thin line across her cheek as she did so. Glass fell to the floor and shattered further as a girl jumped through.

The girl looked to be around fourteen, standing at five foot six with a thin but fit build, her hair uniquely half blonde, half purple, and her eyes white. She smirked at the quintet gathered.

"Who are you," Camille enquired coolly, "and what are you doing in this dojo?"

"I'm Evan Mae, and I've been sent to wipe the Arturia family from existence."

"And why would that be?"

"Don't act like you don't know!" The girl's face now showed anger. "People like you make me sick! Lying to people to achieve your own ends!"

"I think we can safely conclude that she doesn't like liars," Ryusuke said dryly.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Rhea responded, sarcasm evident in her tone.

Camille, meanwhile, took a biting tone. "I don't see how you could be so arrogant as to think you can defeat five mages by yourself."

Evan giggled. "But I'm not by myself. I have all my spirits alongside me!"

"And now she thinks she's a medium," Ryusuke sighed. "Wonderful."

"Whatever!" Celeste pointed Tyrhung at Evan. "You have a lot of nerve to just bust in here, so I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson! Load!"

Evan's face became contorted with rage as she stared at Celeste. "Teach me a lesson? Sorry, but Fiore does not belong to you, you dirty, no good bitch!"

Camille, meanwhile, was quietly seething, her teeth gritted. "I do not know what you're talking about, we are quite aware that Fiore does not belong to us, but I would thank you not to talk to my daughter like that!"

Evan gave a short scream of anger. "Don't you dare lie to me! You know exactly what I'm talking about, and exactly why you're all about to die! Rise!" Four ethereal figures rose, seemingly out of nothingness, each unique but similar to the others, gathered in a line formation. They were all translucent, with humanoid shapes but no discernable features, and their colourations were interesting. One, situated to the far left, was coloured a reddish-orange hue, with one a deep ocean blue next to it, a brown figure next to that one, with the one on the far right a grey-silver colour. Evan smirked. "Okay, my spirits, kill them! All of them except the taller blonde woman, she's mine."

Camille scrunched her already slightly wrinkled forehead, readying Arturia's Tear. "Load."

Meanwhile, the brown spirit touched its hands to the floor, causing spires of rock to rise behind Ryusuke, sharp points aimed to skewer him. He jumped to the side as the spires penetrated the ceiling, causing chunks of plaster and brick to impact the floor below. He dodged straight into a torrent of water from the blue spirit that cannoned him into and through a wall, sending him far beyond the room's barrier. Aster attacked at the spirit with her hands, finding that she passed straight through it. The brown spirit, however, conjured a boulder that flew towards her at high speed, forcing her to dodge.

"Falling Stars!" Several beams of brilliant white light erupted from Aster's palms, pummelling at the brown spirit and forcing it back. The red spirit shot a torrent of flames at her, scorching the wall after she rolled out of the way.

"Deploy!" Celeste held Tyrhung out and span in a circle, producing ten golden spheres in a circle around her. With a wave of her sword, she sent them out towards the silver spirit, which was already in motion, causing them to detonate as it crossed their path. It was blown back, straight into an attack from Rhea.

"Windscythe!" The deadly blades of wind shot straight at the spirit from close range, impacting and cutting it to ribbons. The spirit reformed, however, and shot a gust of wind straight back at her, sending her flying back into Celeste, both of them sprawling along the floor.

"Twilight Barrage!" Several spheres of Twilight Magic shot at the blue spirit, announcing Ryusuke's re-entrance. He dodged another torrent of water, raising his blade at an incline towards the ceiling. "Moondance!" A projection of the moon appeared, a beam of solar magic shooting from his blade straight at the astral image, reflecting from it and becoming twilight. The beam scored a direct hit on the silver spirit, which was advancing on Celeste, forcing it back and halting its movement, paralysing the spirit.

"Salvo!" Fifteen shots were fired from Arturia's Tear, homing in on Evan. She jumped clear, but the shots followed her until impacting upon a wall, blowing a huge hole in it.

"Three of a Kind!" Three knives appeared behind Camille, forcing her to roll to the side as they barrelled towards her. However, her vulnerable form was struck as the knives were redirected upon Evan's telekinetic command, piercing her in the leg, hip and arm. The knives dissipated as Evan pressed her advantage.

Meanwhile, a scream stabbed through everyone's eardrums. A storm of fire was shooting towards Rhea, and she seemed to be rooted to the spot, her face a mask of pure terror. As the flames converged upon her, Ryusuke dived in and tackled her away in the nick of time, the fire burning off a part of his jeans.

"Don't just stand still like that!" he berated her, "are you suicidal?!"

"I don't do fire," she responded, still shaken.

"I'll keep it off you, you go for the others." He sighed as she nodded an affirmation and ran to help Aster, who was currently struggling with both the blue and brown spirits.

"Twilight Cannon!" The beam of magic hit the spirit in what would be its chest, pushing it back, but it just flew back forward, shooting streams of fire at him.

"Is it too much to ask," he shouted, ducking and weaving out of the way of the attacks, "to have a peaceful fucking day?!"

"Detonate!" Camille swung her sword straight at Evan, the blade erupting in an explosion of magic as it closed in on the girl, using up all ten charges that remained. She reloaded as Evan flew out of a cloud of smoke, landing on her backside looking burnt, bleeding from her forehead, patches of her long black cloak burned away.

"Shotgun!" A dark red shotgun appeared from nowhere in Evan's hands, and she wasted no time in pulling the trigger, sending bullets of pure crimson energy straight at Camille. Even as she ran away from the shots, they did not cease, and rather increased in occurrence as Evan tried to press her advantage.

"Full Salvo!" Twenty-one shots erupted from Tyrhung, which was held straight in front of the silver spirit, and a gust of wind did nothing to deter them from exploding upon impact with the spirit, forcing it to dissipate entirely.

"Alright! One down!" she cheered, running towards Ryusuke's fight. "Having a little trouble?" she taunted.

"If you're not gonna be helpful, then kindly piss off."

"Reload! Bombing Run!" A massive projectile shot through the large holes in the ceiling caused by the now gone earth spires, reaching its highest point and splitting into twenty, raining down upon the fire spirit, causing a massive explosion. Holes in the spirit's body were slowly repaired as Ryusuke sighed.

"I hate my life. Twilight Slash!" Rather than releasing the spell, he slashed through what would be the spirit's shoulder, the Twilight Magic leaving a trail of white-purple down the slash, dissipating the summoning.

"Shooting Star!" A massive beam of starlight shot at the blue spirit, cutting through a torrent of water and engulfing it entirely, completely destroying a wall behind the creature. When the light disappeared, the water spirit was nowhere to be seen.

"Scatter Shot!" Camille ran towards Evan, thrusting Arturia's Tear forwards in a stabbing motion. Seven small projectiles appeared from the tip of the blade, shooting at a dodging Evan. The girl gave a grin before running at Camille, placing her hand on the woman's chest, just below her breastplate.

"Heart Attack." Even as Rhea destroyed the final spirit, moans and murmurs caught everyone's attention as they watched Camille's sword fall from her hand, her right hand clutching at her left bicep. Convulsing slightly, she fell to the floor in a heap, causing all those gathered to look on in shock.

"Mom?" Celeste was wide-eyed, shock seeming to overtake her system. Rhea, meanwhile, was already in motion.

"Windblade!" The blade of wind appeared in her hand as she rushed at Evan, the anger clear in her face. She attacked with a relentless flurry of slashes, each attack masterfully dodged. "That's my friend's mother you just killed, so I hope you're ready to get cut open!"

Evan gave a giggle before front flipping over Rhea's head, landing in a crouch and springing up as she turned round. Even as Rhea raised her blade, Evan's hand found itself in-between Rhea's breasts. "Heart Attack!"

The Windblade technique disappeared. Rhea clutched her left arm, convulsing as she fell to the floor, sprawling lifelessly.

"Fuck!" Ryusuke screamed, rushing at Evan, Twilight Magic ready on the tip of his blade. Evan, however, dodged, before taking an expression as if she were listening to something. Without warning, she jumped out of the broken window, waving at the three left standing.

"I'll have to finish your eradication another time, so until then!" With that, she was gone.

"Okay, damage control!" Ryusuke slid along the floor to Rhea, clasping his hands together with the right on top of the left, placing them above her heart and pushing. After twenty quick compressions, he checked her pulse. "Shit! Celeste, see what I'm doing?"

"Yeah…" she replied.

"Go and do it to your mother! Aster, make sure no-one comes back to try and kill us." He continued compressing on her chest and checking her pulse. On his fourth check, he felt something weak. Weak, but present nevertheless. He looked over to Celeste, still compressing upon her mother's chest. "Any luck?"

"It's really weak!"

"Then fucking stop, you'll stop it again!" He rushed over, dragging Celeste's hands away from her mother's chest. "What happens when you let an idiot perform CPR."

"The hell did you say to me?!" She got straight in his face, nose to nose, glaring and growling with an intensity so great it actually managed to intimidate him slightly.

"Guys!" Aster shouted. "It's not the time! They need to go to a hospital!"

Ryusuke sighed and turned away from the confrontation. "You're right. Where's the nearest one?"

"What makes you think you're going?" growled Celeste.

"The fact that I'm a lot faster than both of you. I'm sorry, Celeste, you're not an idiot, now can you please step away so I can pick your mother up and take her to medical professionals who can actually keep her the fuck alive?!" Anger and frustration invaded his tone as he approached the end of his sentence.

"He's right," Aster said coolly, "he is faster, so let him take them, we'll catch up."

"Just keep going towards Mercurius," Celeste relented, "you can't miss it."

"Thank you." Ryusuke plucked the two fallen bodies of the floor and slung them over his shoulders. "Shadow Sneak." He disappeared from view.

* * *

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Ryusuke was sat at Rhea's bedside. There were two beds in this particular room, the walls completely white, a single window letting the fading evening light into the room. The only furniture was in the form of two simple beds, clothed with white sheets, two chairs by each bed, and a table next to each bed with a lacrima placed on each, connected to the two patients by some form of wire. The occupant of one bed was Rhea, and the other was occupied by Camille. The other two had yet to arrive, and Ryusuke was cursing his inability to defeat the elemental spirits quicker to join in the fight against Evan, which would have perhaps averted this entire situation.

"Hey, they okay?" Aster interrupted Ryusuke's brooding, entering the room with Celeste in tow.

"Well, they're alive," he responded, his voice despondent.

"How about you?"

"Probably better than Celeste, that's her damn mother on the brink of death."

"Shut up," Celeste said angrily, plopping herself into a seat at her mother's bedside. Ryusuke stood, pushing his way past Aster as he exited.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To find the bitch who did this."

* * *

A graveyard. Simple, unassuming, and macabre. A creepy location, to be sure. But Ryusuke didn't have anywhere better to start looking, and the girl's seeming affinity with spirits made this seem like the kind of location she'd take to. Stepping inside, he could swear he felt the spirits of Crocus' dead and forgotten trying to push him away, but he paid it no mind. He had never been a superstitious man, and he had never had much belief in ghosts. Sure, anything was possible with magic, but he'd yet to see proof that spirits of the dead could rise and haunt the living, so he'd remain an unbeliever until such proof was shown to him.

"Fucking stinks," he murmured to himself. Nothing seemed amiss, but he would continue his search nonetheless. Suddenly, in his periphery: movement. A figure, slinking inside a crypt. Instantly alert, he hastened his pace towards the tomb. He entered, pushing cobwebs out of his way as he did so. It was cold, and the smell was offensive, but he kept his focus on his intentions. Scanning the room, he found a girl sitting cross-legged facing away from him, mumbling away to herself. A defining feature of this girl: her hair was half blonde, half purple.

"Game over," he stated. Evan merely turned to him with a quizzical look before flashing him an enraged look.

"Devil's Spire!"

* * *

AN: Doo-doo-doo… *tries to look innocent* What? It's not like I actually killed them! I mean, they could die later, but that's besides the point, dammit! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and please remember to leave a review! I've been kinda slacking off on replying to them recently, but that shall stop, and every review will be responded to! ^^ Anyway, until next Tuesday, folks.


	16. EX-1: Magic Rock

AN: What's this? A non-scheduled chapter? Am I just being nice? Well, kind of. This idea just sort of popped into my head, and I thought it might be cool to run with it, so you're getting the first omake of Angel's Breath! These will pop up occasionally, as a nice break from the actual story. They won't affect your regular updates though, so don't worry about that. Anyway, as a keen reader may notice, every chapter title from 'Devour' onwards has been the title of a song. If you're wondering what the little lines at the top of the page are, they're parts of the lyrics that I thought would fit. Anyway, as you may be able to infer from this, I'm a big music fan. That's where the idea for this omake came from.

Before we begin, I'd like give a little note to all of you wonderful readers who may be feeling that your OCs may be neglected: every single OC guild story I've read has started off with a round of missions for everyone. I kinda wanted to go against the grain a bit and launch into proper story arcs with certain sets of characters. Now, I'd be lying if I said that every character will get equal spotlight through the entire story, but they won't be ignored, not by a long shot. Obviously I find some characters more interesting and easier to write than others, so they'll get more focus over the course of the entire story, but this thing's running well over 100 chapters, so everyone will get their chance to shine at some point, even more so in the next arc, which is actually going to be a round of missions, now that I've gotten a bit of story and character stuff out of the way, and dropped some plot threads. Anyway, enjoy your omake.

* * *

**Chapter EX-1: Magic Rock**

Ryusuke sighed before sipping on a beer he had extracted from behind the bar. Really, was it that hard to have someone man the damn thing? He was rather thankful that Rosa let everyone store their own booze behind there, because without anyone there, who the hell was he supposed to pass his money to? Although, given that most of the stores behind there were actually purchased from the guild itself, he guessed it made sense to just let people help themselves. No-one was really the stealing type, as far as he could tell. He sighed again as he gulped down the last remnants of the beverage. It was still a bother. He looked at an animated scene occurring in the corner, which involved Eiko and Nui being their usual hyperactive selves and terrorising the poor Echo, Melody and Mari with what appeared to be some form of dance-off, while Viktor just watched on shaking his head. He sighed again. The guild could be annoying sometimes, but at least it wasn't boring, and hell, the members had grown on him. He took a look back at the scene before climbing to his feet, aiming himself for the back door in hope of finding some peace and quiet.

Today was not his lucky day.

He took one look at the four way brawl going on in the field at the back of the guild and slunk back inside. A massive fight between Celeste, Florence, Cyrus and Aster was tearing up the grass, and he was pretty sure he'd seen teeth flying too. Looked like the master would be busy once they were done knocking the crap out of each other. He took off at what was practically a run to the door leading to the staircases, almost throwing himself through it to get away from Eiko's incessant singing, an irritating accompaniment he'd added to his foul dancing. Still, it actually sounded pretty good. And the guy did possess Sound Magic, so it did make some sense that he could sing. Ryusuke found his way to the library, gently nudging the door open to find it sparsely populated, and he inwardly cheered. The only occupants of the room were Wisteria, nose buried deep in a book with her ever-present headphones blasting out faint sounds of music, and Baz, a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth and a tumbler of scotch in his hand, the other hand used by a book, the title spelled in some language Ryusuke couldn't understand, but at a guess, it would be French. Ryusuke made his way to his favourite bookcase, filled with fantasy novels, and picked up a book by a man called Perry Tratchett. Seating himself on a sofa, he relaxed and opened the book. Of course, the moment he began reading was the moment Baz looked up and noticed him.

"Ah, mon ami! Come, won't you join me in a tumbler of this fine scotch?

Ryusuke sighed. "Why the hell not? Suppose it can't hurt." He stood up and made the short walk over to the man's sofa, plonking himself down beside him. He watched as Baz pulled an empty tumbler towards him, filling it to the brim from a bottle of the dark liquid. Ryusuke took a swig, throwing the burning nectar down his throat. He gave a contented sigh as he continued reading his book, enjoying the new silence he had managed to find.

_Say what you like about Baz_, he thought, _he knows good booze and he knows when to shut up_.

Half an hour passed without event, the only noises in the room a light, tinny drone from Wisteria's headphones, the occasional turn of a page, Baz lighting cigarettes and the sipping and pouring of scotch. After this half an hour had passed, the sound of the door opening penetrated the room, although no-one in the room paid it any mind, given that they were all rather engrossed in their current activity. Because of this, none of them looked up to see Rhea stood impatiently in front of Ryusuke, tapping her foot. He noticed her presence almost immediately, but decided to keep her waiting until he'd finished a particularly engrossing passage before peering over the top of his book.

"Yes?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Care to explain this?" she asked, handing him a sheet of A4 paper with a small strip of tape hanging from the top of it. He took it, noting that in the centre of the paper in large letters were the words, "dear Rhea: surprise! Sincerely, Ryusuke."

He stared at the paper, dumbfounded. It was certainly an impressive imitation of his handwriting, but he had no recollection of writing it. "I can't," he replied smoothly.

"What? No excuses? No reasons? Don't pretend like you don't know!"

"I can't explain it because this is the first time I've seen it in my life."

"Yeah, of course, even though it's in your handwriting, and that's your name signed on it!"

"I don't even know what this so-called 'surprise' was."

She slapped him lightly upside the head. "Booby-trapping my door? Giving me a face full of slime? Ring any bells?" She flashed him a playful smirk as he rubbed the spot she had hit.

"Yeah, it sounds like the kind of thing you and Celeste have done to me. Multiple times. Still, I had nothing to do with it."

"Then who wrote the note, smart-ass?"

"I'm gonna guess Celeste." He closed the book and stood up.

A smirk played on her features. "So, you gonna help me get back at her?"

"Why not just beat her up in a spar or something?" he sighed.

"It's Celeste, things would probably end up getting too serious."

"And?"

"I don't like it when sparring gets serious, especially with my friends."

"Why?"

She looked away before trotting towards the door. "Reasons!" She tried to give her voice its usual playful bounce, but it still ended up containing hints of sadness and evasiveness.

"Okay," Ryusuke replied, following her to the door, looking back to Baz and finding the man asleep with a book on his nose. "Oh well," he shrugged.

"You know, you should really try socialising more," said Rhea.

"I was socialising. It just happened to involve silence."

"Whatever, but you have to come out of that shell of yours eventually."

"No I don't." As they reached the top of the stairs, he looked at Rhea, remembering a certain skill of hers. He then thought back to Eiko before, and words started flooding his mind. He could tell that, her being Rhea, she probably wouldn't stop bugging him about that whole 'socialising' crap. Unless he did something to stop her, and he had the perfect plan. "Okay then, how about we do this?" He explained his idea, prompting a grin from her.

"We'll need more people, y'know."

"I know one who's perfect, but we'll still need two more."

"Got it! I never thought I'd ever get such an idea from you, Ryu-kun!" she said, still grinning, ruffling his hair before running off, much to his annoyance. He pulled out an already cut cigar he'd loaned from Baz, placing it in his mouth before lighting it.

"I love it when a plan comes together," he grinned to himself.

* * *

"Eiko!" Ryusuke called.

"Yeah?" He yelled over, pausing his dance for a second. Really, Ryusuke was surprised he was still going, but he looked like he'd been tiring.

"Come here for a second." The boy complied, rushing over to where Ryusuke was standing.

"What is it?"

"I need your help with something…"

* * *

Rhea walked out of the back door to see Celeste swinging Tyrhung at Florence as Cyrus readied to shoot a spell at them, Aster rushing towards him.

"Gale Rocket," she whispered, coating her arms and legs in wind, propelling herself forwards and landing with a bang between Florence and Celeste.

"Celeste, you like hitting things, right?"

"Yeah…" the girl replied, clearly confused.

"Great!" Rhea beamed. "Then I have the perfect job for you!"

* * *

"But who could do it?" Ryusuke gave an exasperated sigh. He, Rhea, Celeste and Eiko were sat on a pair of armchairs facing each other on the ground floor of the guild, although Eiko was characteristically having trouble sitting still.

"Do we really need someone else?" Celeste grunted irritably. They'd been at this for an hour now.

"I can't think of anyone with the skill," Eiko offered.

"The forever ignored role," Rhea sighed.

"Well," Ryusuke mused, "four is easier than six."

Celeste and Rhea gave him confused looks, but Eiko clicked on almost instantaneously. "In that case, we could ask Wisteria!"

"Sure," Ryusuke agreed. "So, who has a death wish?"

"You," replied Rhea, her usual smirk in full effect.

"You can't make me."

"Aw, what's the matter?" she taunted, hugging herself and shaking. "Scared of the big, bad Doomsday?"

"Nope," he replied coolly, "just lazy."

"Sure," she teased, "and the sky is green."

"You're not taunting me into this." Despite his words, he could feel his resolve cracking. Rhea had the unique ability to get him to do just about anything she asked, even if he did put up a fight. He had no idea how, but it was annoying that he would cave to the raven-haired beauty every single time. Sometimes, all it took was to look into her playful hazel eyes and he was putty in her hands. Now, though, she just stared at him, smirking.

"Fine," he relented. "But if I end up dead, you're not coming to my funeral."

* * *

He looked at Wisteria. Her headphones were still on, so she had no idea he was there. Which was good, really, he had to figure out a way to approach this. He saw that her music player was strewn a ways away from her, out of her sight. He smirked inwardly. Creeping forwards, he gently picked it up, careful not to disturb the wire, and clicked a button. To his delight, it wasn't locked. He clicked onto her library, finding an array of artists, some he liked, and some that made him want to throw up. He kept scrolling, trying to find his objective.

_Come on_, he thought, _do you have no appreciation for the classics?_ Thankfully, as a small progress bar on the bottom of the screen neared the end of its run, he found exactly what he was looking for. With a smile, he waited for the current song to end, before clicking play. As soon as the song began, Wisteria looked quizzically towards him, anger flashing in her eyes.

"Who said you could touch my things?" she asked, removing one pod of her headphones from an ear.

"The god of making points?" he shrugged.

"Explain yourself."

"Okay, well, I need your help."

"No."

"Just hear me out, I think you might be interested…"

* * *

"Why the hell did I agree to this?" Wisteria growled, eliciting a giggle from Rhea.

"Because we're just that awesome, obviously!"

Wisteria merely glared at her.

"Please, stop," sighed Ryusuke. "I do want this to work."

"Yeah!" Eiko cheered. "This is gonna be friggin' epic!"

Celeste gave a grin. "Come on, you guys ready or what?"

"One question, Ryu-kun," said Rhea.

"Yeah?" he responded.

"Why are we in your living room?"

He sighed. "So the guild doesn't know what we're doing, idiot."

* * *

_Where's my team, I'm bored! _Aster thought. She had a mission picked out and everything. It didn't help that no-one else in the guild seemed interested in a game. This was one of the rare times the entire guild was gathered in the guild hall, and no-one wanted to do anything interesting. It sucked. She could go on the mission on her own, of course, but it wouldn't be as fun. She thought wistfully of the silk rope lines back home, but there was nowhere around the guild that had such an apparatus, so she really was stuck. She could ask someone else to go with her, but she was itching to get back at Celeste for beating more monsters than her on their last mission, so she really wanted her along for the ride.

"Hey, Aster!" She heard the whisper from Ryusuke as he snuck through the front doors.

"Where the hell have you guys been?!" she complained. "I picked a mission and everything!"

"Later," he said. "I need a favour. Can you get everyone outside for about an hour?"

She sighed. "I've been trying, but no-one wants to."

"Then you're not pushing hard enough," he smirked. "Unless you don't think you're persuasive enough, that is."

She gave one of her trademark playful smirks. "You wanna put a bet on that?"

He sighed. "Get everyone outside and you'll get your rematch."

Aster's face lit up. "Deal!" She ran off to gather all the members of the guild, leaving Ryusuke to smirk to himself.

"Too easy."

* * *

Ryusuke sighed. "Figures." The newly formed quintet was standing staring at Styles, who was sat in the corner.

Rhea approached him, throwing an arm over his shoulders, earning a glare. However, when she spoke, though her voice was sweet and innocent, her eyes were full of malice. "Styles, we kind of need you to not be here right now, you understand?"

Ryusuke and Eiko both tried to suppress a shudder, and failed.

He shrugged her off, still glaring emotionlessly at her. "Go away, human."

Wisteria approached, slamming her fist down on the table before speaking, low and quiet. "Leave. Now."

Styles still sat, unmoved.

"Fuck it," sighed Ryusuke. "Just bring it in, it's not like he cares."

As they began moving all of their equipment into the empty guild hall, Styles watched with no real interest, his eyes glazed over, absentmindedly scratching Nina behind the ear.

* * *

"Ready, guys?" asked Ryusuke.

"Why are you so serious about this?" asked Rhea, an amused look on her face.

"This is something I happen to love very much. Now, everyone ready?" His voice was all business, but there was definitely a hint of excitement in there.

"Ready!" called Eiko.

Rhea and Celeste both grinned while Wisteria merely gave a curt nod.

As Aster walked back into the guild hall accompanied by Florence, both covered in sweat, Ryusuke gave a smirk and Eiko raised a microphone to his mouth, tilted his head back and began to sing.

"_Is this the real life, is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality!_" Rhea played a soft piano accompaniment as Eiko's pitch-perfect voice pierced through the air.

"_Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see! I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy, 'cause I'm easy come, easy go, little high, little low._" Most of the guild had piled back in now, wanting to see what the cause of this sudden music was, and were a little surprised to see the current band performing.

"_Any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me… to me._" As the final note rang out, Ryusuke began playing an electric guitar, a red Tibson Des Saul, whilst Wisteria began plucking notes on an Apiphone bass guitar, and Celeste softly hit out a drumbeat.

"_Mama, just killed a man… put a gun against his head, pulled the trigger now he's dead. Mama, life had just begun, now I've gone and thrown it all away._" The guitar began to swell, and someone in the crowd cheered.

"_Mama, ooh-ooh-ooh, I didn't mean to make you cry, if I'm not back again this time tomorrow, carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters…_" The crowd cheered louder, and Eiko began stepping back and forth as he sung.

"_Too late, my time has come, sent shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time._" Eiko's face was overcome with emotion as he looked out to the audience that had gathered, and the smiling faces enjoying the music. He sung from the bottom of his chest and let the emotion of the lyrics overtake him, ignoring his hyperactivity completely.

"_Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go, gotta leave you all behind and face the truth!_" He let a small smile grace his features as the guitar swelled slightly.

"_Mama, ooh-ooh-ooh,_" As he sung this line, Ryusuke chipped in with a soft voice, singing, "_any way the wind blows._"

Ryusuke focused on the guitar as Celeste continued to pound out the beat. "_I don't wanna die, sometimes I wish I'd never been born at all!_" As he reached the final note, Ryusuke launched into a rip-roaring guitar solo, hitting the notes with expert precision and timing as the entire crowd cheered, Eiko nodding his head along whilst Ryusuke rocked out to the solo he was playing. After a little bit of shredding, he hit the final note, causing Rhea to begin a funky piano rhythm.

"_I see a little silhouette of a man, Scaramouche! Scaramouche! Will you do the Fandango? Thunderbolt of lightning, very very frightening me!_" Their guildmates looked a little surprised at the song's sudden change of tone, but they were enjoying it nonetheless.

"_Galileo!"_ Sang Rhea in a high voice, prompting a reply of, "_Galileo!_" from Eiko, in a slightly deeper voice. This occurred a second time, before Eiko took over completely.

"_Galileo, Figaro, magnifico!_" He bent over slightly, looking straight out at his guildmates.

"_I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me._"

Ryusuke and Rhea then began singing in high, choral voices. "_He's just a poor boy, from a poor family, spare him his life from this monstrosity!_"

Eiko took over again. "_Easy come, easy go, will you let me go?_"

Ryusuke and Rhea smiled and sang, "_Bismillah! No, we will not let you go!_"

Near the end of the line, Eiko then sang, "_Let him go!_" This was repeated another two times, the second repeat having Eiko sing, "_let me go!_"

"_Will not let you go!_" the two sang, with a reply of, "_let me go!_"

"_Never, never let you go!_" They sang.

"_Never let me go!_" Eiko replied. The piano built up as all three sang, "_no, no, no, no, no, no, no!_"

Then, it was just Eiko. "_Mama Mia, Mama Mia!_"

"_Mama Mia let me go!_" Ryusuke and Rhea sang.

"_Beelzebub, has a devil put aside for me?_" they all sang. "_For me? For me? For me?_"

As the last note was struck, Ryusuke launched into a walking guitar riff, punctuating each strum with a stamp of his right foot.

"_So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye? So you think you can love me and leave me to die? Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby! Just gotta get out, just gotta get right out of here!_"

Ryusuke kept playing the guitar as he began to fade it out, along with Wisteria and Celeste playing softer and softer until only the piano remained. "_Nothing really matters, anyone can see, nothing really matters, nothing really matters to me!_" As Eiko elongated the final word, Celeste began playing him out with a simple drumbeat, until the song finished. The entire guildhall erupted into cheers and applause at the performance.

* * *

"I have to admit," said Cyrus, "that was pretty damn awesome." He wore a smirk on his face.

"Ha, thanks!" replied Rhea, beaming.

"No joke, you killed it," complimented Dean.

"Ohmigod! That was amazing! You guys should totally, like, make an album or something!" Melody gushed, a wide smile on her face.

"Yeah, cheers," said Ryusuke.

"You want some candy?" she asked, holding out a bag of sweets.

"I'll pass, thanks." He gave a small smile anyway.

"_You were really good, Ryu-nii!_" Echo wrote in the air, beaming widely.

"So that's what you were doing!" said Aster.

"Yup!" replied Celeste. "And it was damn worth it!"

Rosa watched as her guild congratulated the new performers, and smiled to herself, watching Bane force them all to have a drink with him. _Well, this place is as lively as ever… it's days like this I remember why I love this guild._

* * *

AN: So? What do you think? The song was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, if you didn't get it, and I most definitely do NOT own it. But I can play it. Oh, and the guitar brands mentioned aren't real xD Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, I really enjoyed writing it, even if that song was a bitch to type out ^^ Oh, and bonus points if you can spot the spoonerism and the A-Team reference! I'll be back on Tuesday with your usual chapter, so until then!


	17. Like Father, Like Son

AN: Gyaa, 100 reviews! Thanks for all your continued support, guys! If you have any mission ideas for when this arc has finished, send them in! Especially if they're for your OC! Oh, and I'm heading to MCM Expo in London this weekend, so I won't have any time to write for next week. Unfortunately, this means next week's chapter will come somewhat late. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

_Don't fuck with family!_

* * *

**Like Father, Like Son**

"Devil's Spire!" cried Evan, flinging her arms upwards. Ryusuke's head whipped round as he heard a rumbling noise assaulting his ears from all directions. He gave a wary eye to a rising mound of earth as it exploded, a dilapidated figure bursting out from it. The figure had pallid skin, and a blank look in his eyes, which were staring straight at Ryusuke. He span round quickly as he heard a piercing scrape, watching as another dilapidated figure, this one female, rose from a now open casket in the centre of the crypt. Glancing about himself, he found that he was staring down an army of those risen from the ground; an army of the dead.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," he groaned, drawing his katana from its sheath and standing ready.

* * *

In a dark room, a dark man wearing a dark cloak gave a dark grin. He pulled back his hood to reveal a handsome face, with perfect teeth but eyes as black as midnight, malevolence shining through them as a beacon to all that is, was or will ever be depraved and destructive. He fought back a chuckle as he looked over to a triangular structure held in a vertical plane, with circles intersecting with each of the corners, one in the centre of each edge, each edge serving as a tangent to the circles, and a large one in the centre of the structure, connecting with each of the other circles. Six of them were occupied by light blue spheres with magic swirling chaotically inside, almost as if they were lacrima, but not quite. However, the circle in the centre was unoccupied, with it being around four inches in diameter, and looking lonely, as blue energy coursed through the metal triangular structure, but without any real kind of lustre. There was one key component missing.

"Alright then, Angel's Breath," the Wanderer grinned, "show me what you're made of. Show me that you're worthy… of the new world!"

* * *

Aster sat at Rhea's bedside, a ponderous look on her face. What exactly had motivated this girl to attack the Arturias? She had said something about Fiore not belonging to them, but what the hell was that even supposed to mean? She looked over to see Celeste slumped in a chair beside her mother, her slouching form looking devoid of any life it had previously contained. It was almost as if lines of depression were rising from her, an aura of despondence following her wherever she would go. Aster gave a heavy sigh. This was a messy situation, and they didn't even know most of it. Before she could continue her thoughts, she heard a groan from in front of her as Rhea shifted slightly.

"Rhea!" she exclaimed, reaching out her hand to the woman's sleeping form. However, she retracted it when she realised that it had been an unconscious reaction to something, and Rhea was still deep within unconsciousness. She glanced down sadly, rueing her inability to help her friend at this point, it was something that was beyond her control.

Celeste had heard Aster's exclamation, but she didn't have it in her to check exactly what had caused it. It was taking everything she had to remain seated and not start smashing the room to pieces in her anger. She didn't know why this had happened, and that only fuelled her emotions even further. Fiore didn't belong to them? _What kind of delusional moron doesn't know that?_ she thought. Clenching her fist, she silently seethed at the situation. All she knew was that when she found the bitch that had done this, she would make her pay.

* * *

"Shit!" Ryusuke slashed at one of the dead, bisecting the deceased man, but he crawled onwards towards Ryusuke, slowly gaining as the man in question had to turn around to stop another one taking a bite out of his leg. With a stab, he pierced through its brain, stopping it in its tracks. However, he wasn't out of hot water yet, a mass of formerly dead bodies swarming over him, overwhelming him. Crying out, he batted one away before slashing straight through another, clearing a path for more to stumble in after him. Surrounded on all sides, he had no choice but to try cutting his way out, but he couldn't afford to be reckless. He had no clue what would happen if they managed to wound him, and he wasn't exactly anxious to find out.

"Twilight Barrage!" He slashed through several at once, spheres of twilight erupting from the tip of his blade as he did so, exploding on impact with more in the crowd of dead. He struggled to keep himself away from their clawing, desperate hands, even having to cut off some of their limbs in his attempt to remain unharmed. His dishevelled figure acted as a beacon to them all, and he simply couldn't put them down quickly enough. Screaming desperately, he ran straight into the crowd, hacking and slashing with no real technique, his only aim to get away from the position of certain death. He ran into a solid mass of bodies, unable to escape as he was hemmed in on all sides by the dead, each merely a few inches from touching him. Panic set in. He screamed. His loud, desperate cry resounded as it hardened and died out, his eyes now full of steel.

"Okay, you undead cunts. Twilight Cutter!" His defiant cry echoed through the crypt as Twilight Magic enveloped his blade. With newfound speed, he lashed out around him, no thought wasted on aiming. The blade cut through bodies like butter, guts spilling out and still, stale blood splashing over him. Allowing his instincts to take over, he worked furiously on cutting apart every facet of the undead army surrounding him, each of his augmented slashes cutting something in half or just destroying it. With a scream, he cut down the final corpse, his face invisible beneath a mask of darkened blood and rotting innards.

Evan giggled psychotically. "A much more fitting face for the dishonest and immoral, I think."

Ryusuke merely glared at her. "I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about. I have no idea who the fuck you are. I have no idea why you decided to give two people heart attacks. But a guild is a family. I've come to accept that, because these are people that were happy to accept one of the world's biggest pricks as their own. And there is one thing that you never, ever do." His cold glare pierced through her. "You don't fuck with family." He launched himself at her, a massive diagonal slash cutting through the air as she managed to stumble back out of the way.

Evan's face showed her lust for blood, rage overtaking her features. "Just like everything else in this world, your 'family' is a-"

"Evan," he cut in, "have you ever wondered what it feels like to die? I hope so, because you're about to find out. Twilight Fire!" With a wave of his blade, the familiar flames of twilight were shot towards Evan. She leaned back to avoid it, flipping over her outstretched arms as the spell missed completely.

"Your family is a lie! Shotgun!" she screamed, holding out her arms as a red shotgun materialised there, instantly pulling the trigger with a loud bang.

Ryusuke reeled back. He had felt the magic bullet impact with his gut, and he was forced to hold onto it as pain pulsed throughout his body. Looking down at the impact site, he was shocked to find no wound. It was as if his body had absorbed the bullet, and whatever magic it had contained. Suddenly, he felt a stabbing in his gut. The interesting thing was that it yielded no pain. He glanced up, glaring, before bowing his head and dropping to his knees. The stabbing? It was fear. Fear coursed through every vein, every artery and every capillary, overtaking him and forcing him into a complete, terror-induced stillness. With leaden limbs, even the simples of movements seemed impossible, and so it seemed that he was finished. The fear muddled his mind, altered his cognitions, and forced him to see through a clouded mist that only emphasised the 'could' of everything, what could occur, and what could be the end of him. What could never be. What his end could spell for the hopes of those he cared for.

"And now," Evan screamed, anger fuelling her voice, "you're going to die! Knife!" An ordinary kitchen knife came to her hand from nothingness, appearing in a backhanded grip. Striking out with astonishing ferocity, she was dumfounded by the fact that a shaky blade had been raised to block her attempt at his throat.

"Fear," he said, his gaze locked upon hers, "is an interesting concept. Some consider it crippling. But not me. Fear makes you stronger, faster, more aware. It sharpens your reflexes because it is such a primal instinct, feeling fear because of the will to survive. I've been paralysed by fear before, but that kind of trick will never work on me again!" He exploded upwards, slashing horizontally. Although Evan evaded his strike, he was quickly back upon her, his strikes lightning quick. However, she was equally quick in blocking, each of his precision strikes halted by her meagre blade. Finally, he gave up on his frontal assault, jumping back.

"Screech!" With this, Evan began giving a loud, piercing scream, cracking the walls of the crypt. Raising his hands up to his ears, Ryusuke gave a yell of his own to try and block out Evan's ghastly wail, but it was to no avail. The sound permeated the air around him and came close to shattering his eardrums completely. It was a maddening noise, and he was willing to try just about anything to end it.

He pointed his blade straight out at Evan. "As light may become shadow, and shadow may become light," energy was coalescing around him, beginning to take some kind of incomprehensible shape. Evan had no idea exactly what he was doing, but she knew that it would be dangerous. This only made her determined to stop it, and so she stopped her shrieking and rushed towards him.

"Witness the birth of a union!" His soliloquy was halted, however, as Evan's malevolent presence invaded his space, her hand perilously close to his chest. He ducked backwards under her hand, preventing her touch as he slid away, turning to face his opponent once more.

"Shadow Sneak." He disappeared from view, merely a trail of dust and droplets of blood not his own left behind him.

* * *

_Fucking moron!_ Ryusuke berated himself as he splashed water from a small pond onto his face. _You could have killed her, but no, you ran away instead!_ He slapped his forehead as blood now ran through the water, giving his reflection a crimson tint. His worry for his friends had caused him to flee, feeling as if something was about to happen, and wanting to be there to help him. But even if he hadn't had that feeling in his gut, he probably would have run anyway. It had been a close call, he had nearly fallen victim to her Heart Attack technique, and he was almost certain that he was at a disadvantage in that fight. Having expended so much energy in fighting her undead army, he was thoroughly exhausted. Almost on his last legs, he didn't really feel that he could have gone on exerting himself physically without some repercussions to his general well-being. He wasn't about to kill himself, that was for certain. Nevertheless, he cursed himself. He cursed his own inability to finish the fight. He cursed his split-second decision, which had been the wrong one. He cursed announcing himself to the girl rather than just silently killing her off. Did he want some kind of explanation? Then why hadn't he asked? Why hadn't he pushed for her reasons? He berated his own stupidity, his own weakness, his own limitations. He knew that the entire day's fighting had finally caught up to him, but that didn't mean he wasn't disappointed with himself. He needed to make himself stronger. He would make himself stronger. Strong enough to be able to make a difference.

* * *

"What a lovely evening it is." Celeste's head shot up in the direction of the intruding voice. She found a male, looking in his mid-twenties with a sharp-toothed grin and neatly combed black hair perched on the windowsill.

"Who are you and what the hell do you want?" she growled, instantly alert. With both Aster and Ryusuke absent, she was the only one there to stop anyone from trying to finish the job on the two unconscious females mere feet from her.

The man chuckled. "I only thought it common courtesy to warn you of what is about to occur. As for who I am, that is of no importance, but I represent The Organization, a group of noble families determined to keep Fiore out of the hands of power-hungry tyrants such as you and your deplorable mother."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Her patience was running thin.

He chuckled again. "Don't act ignorant. The plan set in motion by your grandparents to take this country for their own, don't pretend your entire family are not trying to further it. And with all of the allies you have gathered, the power they possess, I doubt you'd have all that much trouble were we not to oppose you. I have no idea what bribery you employed, but they, along with you, will all perish along with your grandparents' toxic legacy. That is all I came to tell you. Goodbye." He flashed a grin before jumping from the ledge, running away into the distance. She jumped out of her seat, but it was far too late to stop him. An irritated sigh forced its way out as Ryusuke entered the room.

"Anything happen?"

"Not really, unless you count some guy who thinks I'm trying to take over Fiore telling me that me and all my friends are gonna get killed," Celeste replied with a biting tone.

Ryusuke sighed. "I am in full possession of my mental faculties, so yes, I do count that!"

"Whatever. You find her?"

Ryusuke searched his mind for possible explanations and the scenarios they would lead to, before finally settling on an answer. "No."

* * *

AN: There probably could have been more in here. But there wasn't. Anyway, I'm exhausted, so I hope you enjoyed and please remember to leave a review if you have a question, criticism, praise or general comment. See ya next time.


	18. A Call to Arms

AN: And here's the next chapter. As you may have guessed from the long wait, I had trouble finding inspiration and motivation to write this chapter, but I got it done. Finally. Disclaimer, I don't own Fairy Tail, and all characters are property of their respective creators. Sorry for the wait, hope it was worth it ^^

* * *

_This is a call to arms, gather soldiers, time to go to war._

* * *

**A Call To Arms**

"That one of them?" asked a cloaked man, a pair of binoculars held up to his eyes. His companion, another cloaked man, raised a second pair of binoculars to his own eyes.

"Seems to be. Let's waste him." The man they were looking at stood at six feet and two inches, with messy black hair reaching the nape of his neck being held back by a dark purple headband. The man who had spoken picked up a sniper rifle and inserted a magazine cartridge. Due to being on a rooftop, the firing angle would be downwards, which was an advantage, but the target was moving. The man steadied his gun, the scope held half an inch from his right eye. Taking steady, even breaths, he slowly squeezed the trigger, sending the magic bullet moving at hypersonic speeds towards the target's head, even faster than normal due to its magical nature. However, though the bullet was quick, the man's reaction was quicker. He stuck out a hand and a flash of deep purple lightning erupted from it, eradicating the bullet in its flight. He looked up to origin of the bullet, seeing a smoking gun and the man behind it.

"You just shot at the wrong guy, pal!" he shouted, charging purple lightning in his palms.

* * *

"Damn, that was hard!" Florence wiped her brow with the back of her hand. "But no task is too much for the Lightning Queen!"

Dean sighed. "I thought we were past all that queen crap by now…"

"Nah, with the size of the thing, deflating that ego of hers is gonna take a few years!" laughed Cyrus.

"You're an ass." Florence leaned back on her hands. The three were currently resting in a small clearing in a woodland area. Florence had found a seat on the floor, whilst Dean was sat on a tree stump and Cyrus leaned back against a tree. Grass was sparse in the area, hard topsoil instead forming the ground on which they sat. The forest around them was quite dense outside of the clearing, but on closer inspection one would notice a path which led straight outside on both sides, the east side leading out to a small village, this village being the one that had hired them.

"Thanks, Queenie," Cyrus smirked.

"Y'know," Dean began, "someone needs to go collect that reward."

"Dammit, dude, I'm pretty spent." Cyrus slumped down against his tree, as if demonstrating his point. "How we gonna decide?"

"Draw straws?" Florence suggested.

"With what straws, dumbass?" sighed Dean.

"I got an idea," said Cyrus.

"Do tell, oh wise one," said Florence dryly.

"Not it."

Dean almost instantly replied. "Not it."

"Not it. Dammit! Why me?" Florence whined.

Cyrus gave a sardonic smirk. "Sorry, Queenie. Off you go, hustle that ass so we can go home."

Florence wordlessly rose, slinking off into the trees mumbling to herself.

"I'd bet a million jewel she's talking crap about us to herself," Cyrus chuckled.

"Sucker bet," Dean replied.

"How long d'you think she'll take?"

"It's probably twenty minutes there and back, so we should probably give her an hour. I doubt she's gonna hurry much after that oh so democratic process."

"Fair's fair."

"She probably didn't see it that way."

"Yeah, but if it was up to her she'd be sat on a throne and we'd be doing all this crap for her. Probably thinks her shits are golden or something."

"You ever seen them?"

"Why in the hell would I ever want to?"

"Then how do you know they aren't?"

"How does someone take golden shits?"

"I dunno. Some people go orange if they eat a lot of tomatoes."

"The hell does that have to with anything, idiot?"

"How's the face, ugly?"

Cyrus' hands shot to his nose. "Remind me to kick that guy's ass."

"Duly noted," Dean chuckled. The two settled into a comfortable silence before a scream pierced through the air, both men instantly shooting up, alert.

"That was Florence, right?" Cyrus' expression had been overtaken with concern.

"No doubt about it." Dean looked similarly anxious.

"Think we left a couple of Lizardmen behind?"

"Lizardmen wouldn't have made her scream like that. We'd better hurry up." With that, the two took off sprinting into the depths of the forest.

* * *

"And that's why Vulcans are the strongest creature in Earthland!" Nui finished a sentence emphatically, punctuating it with a flourish of the arms.

"You say that," grunted Viktor, "but we just beat up fifteen of them."

Nui gave a small sigh, still beaming widely. "You're missing the point! You see, when you think about it, comparing them to something like a wyvern, they can- hey, where'd Eiko go?" Her speech, unfortunately, was just too fast for Viktor to follow.

"Uh… what?" He gave her a blank look.

"I asked where Eiko went!"

"I dunno." He shrugged.

Nui gave an exasperated sigh. "You're useless, Viktor! I'm gonna go look for him!" She shot off her seat, leaving Viktor looking confused and slightly nervous, for some reason.

_Uh, right… _he thought, listlessly looking around the train carriage he currently occupied. However, it seemed strange to him that he was currently the only occupant. He didn't know much about how people commuted, but he had to guess that an afternoon train from Magnolia to Onibus would have more than him, Eiko and Nui occupying one carriage. Regarding the occurrence as strange, but not unnatural, he turned to the window, gazing out at the passing landscape with his chin resting on his hand. As he began to tune out the rest of the world, however, he was snapped back to reality by a voice penetrating his hearing.

"Where'd Nui go?" Eiko was, as usual, bouncing on the balls of his feet, looking like he was completely incapable of stillness for even a moment. Of course, if the bag of sweets in his hand was any indication, he was about to get a whole lot worse.

"Oh, Eiko!" Viktor looked over to the owner of the voice, surprise etched across his features.

Eiko merely gave a good-natured grin. "What, did ya think I wasn't coming back for you or something? I feel so wanted!"

_Probably be better if you didn't, _thought Viktor. "N-no, why would I think something like that?!"

"Aw, well. So where'd Nui get off to? Land of the rambling potatoes?" Eiko's grin didn't let up for a second.

"To look for you," Viktor sighed.

"Well, she'll find me eventually. So, Vik,"

_Vik? _Viktor thought exasperatedly. _Is that what he's gonna call me now?_

"Notice anything unusual?"

Viktor thought for a second before giving his answer. "It's empty."

Eiko's smile dropped into a somewhat more serious expression. "Right. And not just this carriage. The entire damn train is empty, except for us. I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

Viktor looked confused. "Why? If it's just us, then there's nothing anyone can do, right?"

"It's just too convenient," Eiko sighed, "imagine if this train, which should be busy, got into an accident right now. We're the only ones on it. That sound like a coincidence to you? Besides, there are ways for people to hide themselves, and people aren't the only da-" He was cut off by a blur tackling him to the ground, dazing him somewhat.

"Where'd you go?" Nui whined, clinging onto her teammate.

"Walking," Eiko groaned, seeing stars.

"You noticed it too, right? I mean it's hard not to, it's just a big glaring thing that's so obvious no-one can miss it, even an idiot, you'd have to be a watermelon to-" Nui's speed-of-light speech was halted when a now fully-aware Eiko put a finger to her lips.

"Yeah, course I did."

Nui, meanwhile, gained a tick mark on her forehead. "It's rude to stop someone talking in the middle of a sentence!"

"You did it to me!" Eiko protested.

"That doesn't count, bonehead!"

"How the hell does it not count?!"

"It just doesn't!"

He wafted his hand in front of his nose. "Phew-ee, I can smell the bag of cats from here!"

"What'd you say?!"

The two ended up in incredibly close proximity, glaring at each other from mere inches away. However, hearing a small click, Eiko looked up.

"Ha!" exclaimed Nui triumphantly. "You looked away, I win!"

"Move!" Screamed Eiko urgently, throwing her aside. As he did so, a gunshot rang out and a shotgun slug embedded itself in his abdomen, forcing him back, hunched over. A man entered the carriage behind Eiko, taking aim and firing quickly. He turned and fired a high-frequency sound wave, disrupting the bullet and forcing it to drop harmlessly to the floor of the moving train.

He looked back and forth, snarling from a combination of anger and pain. He saw three men with the man who had shot him, the shotgun, now reloaded and ready to fire again. On the other side was a single man holding a pistol.

"Shit," said the man holding the pistol. "That was supposed to kill you." He smirked. "Oh well, you all won't last very long!"

Eiko's face was taken over by pure, unadulterated rage as he stared down the attackers. "You bastards tried to hurt my friends, and now you're threatening us? In that case, I have one question to ask you…" He fired a sound wave at the pistol-wielding man, forcing him off his feet and through the door connecting carriages, breaking it down. "Which one of you dies first?!"

* * *

"He said what?" Ryusuke gave Celeste a quizzical look, the two sat in her mother and Rhea's hospital room.

"Everyone associated with me and my mother, including the guild," Celeste sighed.

"And you didn't think to mention this earlier?!" His tone held a note of irritation.

A tick mark appeared on Celeste's head. "Maybe because you didn't ask, asshole!"

"That's not a valid reason!"

"Oh yeah, says who?!" The two butted heads, sparks of animosity flying between their eyes.

"Knock it off!" Aster made her presence known, exasperation present in her eyes. "This isn't a time for you two to fight! Besides, think about it, everyone in our guild is a capable mage. Most of the members are pretty powerful, so there's no reason to worry!"

"There's plenty of reason to worry," sighed Ryusuke.

"Really?!" Celeste challenged, "why's that?! You think our friends are too weak, is that it?!"

"Don't twist my words!" he roared. "Ambush, numbers, both of these things can take down even the most powerful of mages, and let's not forget that if that Evan bitch is anything to go by, they have some pretty damn powerful mages themselves! Think these fucking things through!"

"Well what if you're overthinking it, you stupid bastard?!"

"If anyone's stupid here it's you!"

"Ya think so?!"

"You couldn't find your asshole with a map and a mirror on a stick!"

Celeste growled before lashing out with a fierce straight right, decking Ryusuke. She stomped out of the room, muttering angrily under her breath.

"Celeste!" Aster called, to no avail. She turned to Ryusuke. "Nice one."

"Stay here," he growled.

"You really think it's a good idea to go after her?"

"Better than leaving her out there on her own." He stomped out of the room himself, breaking into a run as he went.

Aster sighed. "This is really not good…"

* * *

"Crap."

"What do we do now?"

"Shoot and hope?"

"Good an idea as any." The man who spoke fired another shot from his sniper rifle, and Bane merely dodged. The man's cloak covered his entire body and was black, his spiky black hair falling to the nape of his neck, with him standing at around six feet tall. His companion stood at five feet and nine inches, a cloak covering his entire body as well. His hair was blonde and cropped close to his scalp, with electric blue eyes shining with murderous intent, a layer of fear lying behind it.

"Dark Lightning Snap!" With a snap of his fingers, Bane shot off several small bolts of dark purple lightning at the shorter man, instantly knocking him unconscious as it connected.

"Hell no!" shouted the man wielding the rifle, taking aim and firing again. Zapping the small projectile, Bane jumped up and towards the man, an angered expression painting his face.

"I don't know who the hell you are, or why the hell you're shooting at me, but I'm not letting this slide. Dark Lightning Stream!" Holding out a single finger, he shot off a thin stream of dark lightning at his opponent, whereupon it exploded on contact, sending the man flying backwards, unconscious. Bane landed from his jump, looking around to see several people gawking at him. Ah, Onibus in the afternoon. No possibility of a fight without someone seeing. Oh well, at least there was no collateral damage. That he could see.

"The Arturias… must fall…" groaned the man Bane had just knocked back. However, before he had any time to react to this, questions began rolling in from bystanders.

"What the hell was that about?"

"Are you alright?"

"You from Angel's Breath?"

Bane sighed. "In order, don't know, yes, and yes. Now, if you'll excuse me." He shot off at speed towards the guild hall, leaving a crowd of rather confused people in his wake.

One man gave a heavy sigh. "Sometimes, I think that guild is more trouble than it's worth."

* * *

"Argh!" A dark-haired woman was launched through a tree by a colossal punch, shattering it into splinters.

"Alright, assholes," growled Cyrus, "what the hell do you want?"

Another woman, her hair blonde, laughed. She was tall and lithe, wearing form-fitting leather armour and wielding a four foot daito. She was flanked by three men, all in full plate armour and black facemasks. "Just to destroy you. Now, we can either do this the easy way and you just stick out your head, or we do it the hard way and we beat the crap out of you, then take your head."

Hearing this, Dean smirked. "I think we'll try it the hard way, since that way we live and you all end up on the floor."

The woman gave a grin. "If you think so, then I'll be happy to be your opponent. My name is Karina, and I am the strongest mage in the employ of the Organization."

Dean readied himself. "That's a big claim. As for me, I'm Dean Arc, S-Class mage of Angel's Breath! Now, let's see if you can back up those words of yours. Apocalypse Soul: War!"

Meanwhile, Florence picked herself up from a spot on the ground, moving to join her teammates. Blood was pouring down the left side of her head and face, but she seemed to be mostly coherent. "Thanks, guys. They surprised me."

Cyrus grinned. "No problem. Now, we got three weaklings to take care of here, so just stand back and let me handle this."

A vein popped out of her forehead. "And why the hell should I stand back and let you hog all the glory, huh?!"

"You're injured, so sit back down, Queenie."

"Like hell I will, asshole!"

Cyrus' reply was cut off before he could speak as one of the men across from him pulled a katana from a sheath on his hip, and rushed towards Cyrus. Almost instantly, he drew his own katana, blocking the slash of his opponent. Another of the men pulled an axe from his back, swinging it at Cyrus from behind.

"ThunderClap!" The axe was halted in mid-swing as Florence clapped her hands together, sending the man flying away with a shockwave of lightning, several trees also being knocked down in the blast. Smoke rose from his body, and he looked to be unconscious.

"Bet you're glad I didn't sit down now, huh?" she smirked.

"Shut up," grunted Cyrus, sidestepping a stab from his opponent.

The one previously unmoving man finally acted, raising a hand and pointing a palm at Cyrus. Out of nowhere, a magic circle appeared on his chest and he was sent flying backwards, another tree being shattered by the impact. Cyrus' previous opponent followed after him, whilst Florence faced off against the last remaining member of the group, who could apparently use telekinesis.

"Thunder Bombs!" Two electrical orbs appeared in Florence's hands, and were instantly thrown at her opponent. However, he jumped out of the trajectory of the projectiles, which impacted with a tree and blew up, knocking over yet another tree. The man stuck out a hand, a magic circle appearing on Florence's chest. With a wave, she was sent flying to the side, but caught herself before any kind of impact.

"Lightning Eruption!" A magic circle appeared beneath her opponent, lightning flying upwards from it before he had a chance to dodge. He was shocked catastrophically, smoke rising from his body before he slumped to the floor, defeated. Skidding on a few metres, Florence landed, digging a hand into the ground to slow her movement.

"You say you're a mage, but I'm yet to see any magic." Dean stood in his War armour, complete with his broadsword. The armour was currently unmarred, he and Karina seemingly locked in a stalemate.

"You're right," she grinned. "How rude of me. I'll show you, then. Requip! Blaze Fang!" In her right hand appeared a one-and-a-half hand falchion, its razor edge glinting in the afternoon light. However, the blade appeared to be coloured a pale crimson, and an orange lacrima was embedded in the pommel. "Blaze Break!" With a slash, a wave of fire engulfed Dean from close range. Karina smirked to herself. "Cooking in a suit of armour… I love it when they choose the hard way."

To her surprise, Dean jumped from the flames, his armour looking slightly singed but otherwise unharmed. She grunted as a gauntleted fist crashed into her face, sending her skidding across the floor. "Rage Burst!" Red magic shot at her from his palms, engulfing her in an explosion. However, she had no time to recover.

"Lightning Eruption!" Florence created a magic circle beneath her, lightning erupting from it. Karina was shocked heavily, but still managed to stand.

"Spear of Light!" Cyrus shot out of the trees, a spear of pure light in his hand. He threw it at Karina, and before she knew anything was happening, it had pierced through her abdomen. The spear dissipated as Karina collapsed, utterly defeated.

Dean yawned. "We still got a reward to collect."

Florence fell to floor, holding her head dramatically. "Oh god, it hurts! I think I'm far too injured to go anywhere without resting first!"

Dean's face fell into a flat stare. "Cut the crap."

"Worth a shot," she grumbled.

* * *

"Wave Slam!" The shotgun-wielding man was sent flying backwards, crashing through the wall of the carriage and outside as Eiko thrust out his palm, an invisible sound wave slamming heavily into him.

"Boss!" One of the men flanking him shouted. "Dammit, Water Cutter!" A wave of water flew towards Eiko, but was stopped as Nui jumped in front of him, sticking out a palm and condensing the magic into an orb within her hand. The orb disappearing, she launched herself at the man who had fired the attack, a light blue glow covering her clenched fist as she did so. Punching the man in his jaw, the magic collected exploded, sending him flying away, unconscious. However, his comrade threw a punch at Nui that was too fast for to dodge. In an extraordinary display of strength, she caught the fist flying at her and flipped the man over, destroying seats as she did so.

However, he wasn't finished yet. As he landed, he pulled three throwing knives from his jacket, launching them at Eiko. Though he was about to ready a spell to intercept, he didn't get the chance as Viktor jumped in front of him, catching all of the blades between his teeth. Grabbing the handles, he bit into the metal and tore of the end of each knife, beginning to chew.

"Thanks, I was getting kind of hungry," he grunted, swallowing the weapons before throwing away the broken handles. "Granata!" He rushed towards the now standing man, an orb of brown energy gathering in his palm. Clenching his fist, he punched the man, echoing Nui's earlier action as an explosion rattled off, knocking the man out cold as he was thrown back.

Eiko turned, hearing a creak. He saw a pistol trained on his head fire, but was quick enough to react. "Sound Shield!" The bullet was stopped in midair by an invisible force, and the man looked on, shocked. Eiko grimaced, still in pain from taking a shot to his stomach, but he was able to power through it. "Sound Crusher!" Eiko raised his gloved fists, a pulsating rhythm seeming to come from the iron knuckles. Rushing forward, he raised his fist ready to punch. The man fired again, but he merely batted it away with a reinforced hand. A loud clang could be heard as Eiko socked the man in his jaw, sending him flying, unconscious. The three looked at the destroyed train carriage, a gaping hole in one of the walls, wind rushing in through it. The train began to slow, with Onibus station nowhere in sight.

"Guess we're walking from here, huh?" Viktor sighed.

"Hey, walking's fun! And so's running!" replied Eiko enthusiastically.

"Then let's get going! Giddy-up!" Nui jumped onto Eiko's back, wrapping her arms around him. With a laugh, he jumped from the hole in the wall of the ever decelerating train, beginning to run into the distance.

Viktor merely sighed. "Dammit…"

* * *

Bane burst through the doors of the Angel's Breath guild hall, gasping for breath as he did so. "Anyone seen Celeste?"

"No, she's still out," replied Anna, a worried look on her features. "Why, did something happen?"

"Well," he began, before being cut off by a massive explosion as the doors were completely blown off, a group of around twenty people bursting through, several holding guns, swords or other weapons. "That." Bane gave a heavy sigh before unscrewing his hip flask, taking a swig and readying himself for battle.

Lucina was forced to bend over backwards as a sword slashed the air above her, and she flipped over to a standing position. "Blood God Bellow!" A massive stream of black blood erupted from her open mouth, sending her opponent flying, and busting a hole in the ceiling.

Andrea, meanwhile, jumped out of the way of a gunshot before putting her hands to her mouth, readying to attack. "Ice Dragon Roar!" Ice was shot from her mouth and through her hands, expanding into a wider attack, knocking out the woman who had shot at her and shattering several tables to splinters.

"Wind Make Boomerang!" Puzzlebox created an invisible construct within her hand, throwing it towards a cluster of three enemies with great speed. It sliced through all of them, dropping them where they stood.

Mari, meanwhile, appeared behind two opponents out of nowhere, slicing through them with one of her pearl white blades as she shot off at high speeds.

"Dark Lightning Snap!" Another man dropped after being shocked by the dark lightning, and gunshots rang through the building, each shot managing to destroy or damage something. A combination of Ice Dragon Roar and Blood God Bellow tore up the floorboards and annihilated the carpet, one attack even managing to rip chunks out of the sturdy wooden bar.

"Would you all STOP DESTROYING MY GUILD HALL!" All fighting ceased upon hearing this voice, laced with authority. Everyone turned to see Rosa standing outside the stairwell door, an aura of rage emanating from her, her features seemingly contorted in a mask of anger. She walked among the fighters, all of them dazed, until one man did something very foolish. He raised his rifle and fired straight at the guild master. She plucked the bullet out of the air, turning to face the man who had fired.

"I would thank you to allow me to walk through my own guild hall without being attacked. Explain your intentions."

He looked on, astounded, before finally gathering his voice. "We intend to kill you all!" With this, fighting resumed, and Rosa growled.

"ENOUGH! RAY OF JUDGMENT!" Her shout was accompanied as she raised her right hand skywards, a heavenly glow seeming to emanate from the ceiling. Several rays of this light shot down, each one connecting with one of the aggressors, burning them and causing them to scream out. The few still standing merely blinked before sprinting out of the guild hall as fast as their legs could carry them.

"Ha!" exclaimed Puzzlebox. "You don't fuck with our guild!"

"Master," said Bane. "I think I know exactly what's going on here…"

* * *

"Stupid asshole," grumbled Celeste. Really, who the hell did that bastard think he was? Okay, she might not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, but she wasn't THAT stupid. And the way he'd talked about the 'danger'. Honestly, did he not have faith in their friends? They could certainly look after themselves, and even if that girl they had fought was strong, that didn't mean anyone was going to get seriously hurt.

"Che," she spat. "Need to get that bastard out of my head." She gave a heavy sigh. "I should probably head back." She about turned, feeling a slight twinge of guilt. Maybe she shouldn't have been so confrontational. Oh well, it was done now. She was struck dumb as she was forced to evade three knives flying straight at her. They sailed harmlessly by as she levelled a glare on the one who threw them.

"Well," Evan smiled. "Just who I was looking for!"

* * *

AN: Done! Lots of fighting. When I got into the swing of it, I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter, there were a lot of different battles and that shit gets me going. Anyway, **ANNOUNCEMENT!**

**I am reopening OC submissions temporarily for more guild members as side characters. They'll still get screen time, they'll still get missions, just not as much as the main cast. Unless I really, REALLY like them. I'll let you guys know when I'm closing submissions, it all depends on how many I get. Rules are: I need dudes. If you wanna make a female, make a female, but I'd prefer males. My ratio is way off. And NO INTROVERTS. I have enough of them. And if you've already submitted one, wait a week before trying to submit another one. Give other people the chance. If I've previously refused your OC and you've improved them, send 'em over.**

Anyway, I'll be trying my hardest to keep to my update schedule from now on, so look forward to a new chapter next week! Oh, and it isn't anywhere close to Christmas in story, but would you guys like to see some kind of Christmas omake? Anyway, until next time, folks.


	19. Power Through Fear

AN: Early, but screw it. I missed a lotta updates. I would've had this out sooner but I got sidetracked by Durarara! and watched all of it in a day. Izaya is the biggest douchebag I've ever seen. Anyway, here's a fight.

* * *

_I am the remedy to humanity; I am the dirge of those who died…_

* * *

**Power Through Fear**

Evan jumped at Celeste, a manic expression on her face. "Finally, this world will be one step closer to the paradise it should be! I can rid the world of one more liar, one more example of humanity that disgusts me so much! It's time you met your end, scum!"

Celeste growled as she dodged. "Right now, you're looking pretty disgusting yourself, y'know! Tyrhung!" The greatsword materialised itself in Celeste's hand and she swung at her onrushing enemy. The sword missed its mark and slashed through thin air as Evan acrobatically flipped over it, giving her the opportunity to kick Celeste straight in the face. The girl reeled backwards, raising her sword to stab at Evan, who peeled away from her attack to stand a few feet from Celeste.

"Load!" Thirty characteristic green ticks appeared along Celeste's blade, along with a trigger sat by the guard. Celeste placed her finger on the trigger and gave a determined grimace. "Homing Shot!" A small, golden projectile shot from the tip of Tyrhung, which was pointed at Evan. The intended target jumped to the side, but was surprised when the shot changed direction, and was thus unable to move quickly enough to avoid it the second time, taking the brunt of the explosion.

"Alright," Evan screamed, "that's it! Piano Forte!" A beautiful, haunting melody rang throughout the streets of Crocus. The miraculously empty street on which the fight took place was seemingly the epicentre of it all, but the rest of the citizens of the city didn't know that as the song hit their ears, soothing them and causing them to listen intently to the beautiful sound.

Celeste, however, was confused. Was this supposed to be some kind of attack? It wasn't doing anything; it was just music. What kind of effect was this supposed to have on her? She knew where it came from, so there wasn't really much chance of it distracting her, her eyes still following Evan's every move. This, currently, was none. She was just stood there, grinning manically at Celeste, lapping up the look of confusion upon her enemy's face.

"Just wait," she said, and within a few seconds, Celeste knew exactly what the attack was.

Citizens of Crocus fell to their knees as an earth-shattering noise replaced the rhythm they had been hearing. Screams rang through the streets as eardrums shattered, blood flying from the ears of several people as the sound became too much to bear. Windows and glass shattered, the very earth resonating with the frequency of this torturous sound. People began clawing at their ears and slamming their faces into walls in an effort to escape, but it was all for naught as the relentless onslaught on their senses continued. Celeste was no exception, but she was holding up somewhat better, sinking only to one knee and grimacing angrily as the sound pummelled her hearing. She watched in horror as a man stumbled around the corner straight into the fight. This wasn't good. She couldn't involve civilians with this, Evan probably wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who got in her way. In fact, Celeste was sure of it; the girl had already proved it. Her dismay grew greater as she watched the man stumble forward, unaware of what was going on around him. Instead, his eyes seemed fixated on the broken glass littering the floor. Celeste tried to shout at the man to run away, but she was unheard over the melody of madness; instead the man continued on, bending over and picking up a particularly jagged piece of glass. She watched on absolutely shocked as he jammed it straight into his chest.

Blood spurted from the wound, staining the street and the offending weapon. The man slumped down into a lifeless heap, prompting a loud giggle from Evan.

"Another liar, another cheater, another stepping stone to the perfect world! I thought I may as well expand the target of this attack, since it'll help me quite literally kill two birds with one stone!"

"You sicken me." Celeste stood up, her movement slightly laboured, her face contorted into a mask of rage. "You'd just go ahead and kill innocent people for whatever the hell cause it is you're fighting for? You'd destroy the lives of people you don't even know? Liars? Cheaters? HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW? ALL YOU'RE DOING IS BUTCHERING INNOCENT PEOPLE!"

"DON'T YOU GET IT?" Evan screamed in anger. "There is no such thing as an innocent person in today's world! Every person who exists has been conditioned by this society to be dishonest, to lie and cheat their way through life! That isn't the world I want to see! I made a promise! A promise to rid the world of people like you! Your family has been scheming for generations to take control of Fiore for themselves, and I know this because the man I serve told me, one of the last honest men in existence! We know that you intend to carry on their plans and become a ruler of this land through trickery and deceit, and you still decide to join a guild and act as if you're on the side of good! You're a power-hungry liar, and you still have the nerve to call yourself righteous! How dare you! You're nothing but scum!"

Celeste bristled. "I've told you and everyone else who keeps insisting this, I have no damn idea what you're talking about!"

"See, right there! Your toxic lies go on even though I know the truth!"

"Is that really how you see the world?" Celeste growled. "You're really messed up, you know that? Still, don't think I can forgive you for what you've done, to me, my family, my friends and everyone else you've hurt!" With this, she began to rush at Evan, seemingly quicker than she had been before.

"I don't need your forgiveness, I need you to die! Knife!" A large kitchen knife materialised in her hand, which she stabbed at Celeste as the girl rushed on. However, she jumped to the side, finally within range of her target.

"Point-Blank Shot!" Celeste swung at Evan, squeezing down on Tyrhung's trigger as she did so. The sword impacted with the girl, engulfing her in a golden explosion. However, Celeste was forced to jump back as a kitchen knife slashed out at her, cutting through the space her chest had just occupied. The smoke cleared to reveal Evan burned and bloodied, her knife still held out. She pulled it back to herself and threw it with blinding speed at Celeste.

"Argh!" The knife struck her in the abdomen, embedding itself within her as Evan rushed forward. Celeste stumbled into a heavy kick to the gut which forced her to her knees, at which point she was kneed in the face by her opponent. Blood flowed from her mouth and she grimaced as Evan pulled out her knife, causing blood to spurt all over the young girl. She gave a bloody grin, raising the knife for her finishing blow.

A huge clang rang through the street as knife struck sword, even managing to chip Tyrhung. Evan growled as Celeste rose to her feet.

"You shouldn't even be able to raise your sword right now, let alone stand."

"Guess that's where you're wrong," smirked Celeste. "I'm a hell of a lot tougher than you're giving me credit for! Artillery Strike!" She jumped back and pulled the trigger, the tip of her blade pointed straight at Evan. A golden shot erupted from the blade, and reached Evan almost instantly in such short range. A massive explosion rang out, but Celeste stayed on guard. Evan shot from the smoke, her knife held out and aimed straight at Celeste's heart. She blocked with the broad side of Tyrhung, both combatants locked in a battle of strength for a second before they were both thrown backwards, Celeste's feet dragging along the street.

"Spirit Energy!" Without warning, a small tree that had been planted on the side of the street creaked. Then it moved. Realisation dawned on Celeste as she watched two branches morph into arm-like attachments whilst the tree uprooted itself, a ghastly looking face appearing upon the trunk.

"It was you who attacked me before, wasn't it?"

Evan gave a slow clap. "Well done, you figured it out. Now let's see if you can fight both of us at the same time!" She rushed towards Celeste again, knife held out, whilst the tree monster lumbered over.

"Crap!" Celeste again used the broad side of her sword to block the knife strike, but had to quickly jump away as the tree clubbed at her with one of its gangly branches. Her next dodge, however, was partly unsuccessful, as Evan managed to score a thin line across her hip. She was then whacked in the shoulder by the moving branch of the tree, with enough force to send her flying backwards into the wall of an unoccupied building, cracking it.

"See?! You're being overwhelmed!" Evan giggled.

"Don't make me laugh… Bombing Run!" She pointed Tyrhung at the sky, and twenty golden laser beams erupted from the tip of the sword, shooting up towards the heavens. Evan watched as they began falling rapidly, landing all around her and her tree monster in a huge explosion that even managed to take chunks out of some buildings.

"Good shot," coughed Evan, "but you're out of ammo! Get her!" The tree attacked with a massive blow sending Celeste flying towards Evan. She flipped to correct herself in midair, avoiding the knife blow aimed for her and launching a kick at the back of her opponent's head, forcing her to careen forwards as Celeste landed with a grimace, her abdomen stabbing at her.

"Then I'll get more!" The Gunblade mage swung Tyrhung outwards, sending the blade back to her requip space.

"Making yourself unarmed? Are you finally surrendering yourself to death?"

"In your dreams. Sunheart!" A new sword appeared in her hand, a small, one-handed broadsword with a black hilt. She gripped the sword in her right hand with a small metal buckler in her left. An aura of flames appeared to be present around the blade and Celeste's hand gripping it. "Load!" Thirty ticks ran up the side of the blade, and as soon as the last was in place, Celeste saw fit to strike.

"Scatter Shot!" She ran towards the tree, thrusting her sword at it as she did so. Seven small fireballs erupted from the tip, barrelling into the possessed tree. The tree erupted in a blaze, cracking and burning as the fire spread to its entire body, finally growing still as it cracked apart, turning to ash even as it became immobile once again.

Evan growled in anger before rushing towards Celeste. "I've had about enough of you! Heart Attack!"

The attack came too fast for Celeste to dodge. She watched as Evan's hand gripped the centre of her chest, and waited for the world to go black.

* * *

"The Arturias must fall?" enquired Rosa, stood across from Bane in her ruined guild hall.

"That's what the guy said, at least. I don't know exactly what he meant, but it seemed pretty obvious to me," he replied, taking a swig from his hip flask.

Her eyes lit up with anxiety. "This is very worrying. Did he say anything else?"

"Nope, just that. He may or may not have been unconscious…"

"Bane…"

"What?! He attacked me!"

She gave a heavy sigh. "It would have helped if you'd questioned him…"

"I was kinda worried about Celeste… didn't realise she was still gone."

"Would you like me to explain why you should have stayed behind with the man?"

Bane groaned inwardly. "Please, god, no… I don't wanna be here the rest of my life!"

"Number one!"

"Gah! How 'bout I go to Crocus and make sure everything's okay?"

"I'm sure you need to listen to this first… as I was saying, number one!"

Bane slumped down in defeat. "She'll die of old age before you finish…"

* * *

Aster sighed as she stared out of the window at the darkening afternoon sky. She was worried. Celeste and Ryusuke had both been gone for a while, and it didn't exactly reassure her that she could feel two powerful magical presences clashing on the outside of the city. It was faint to her, but she could certainly feel it. Thankfully, it seemed to be calming down, but she didn't know who had come out on top. She would bet everything she owned that one of them was Celeste, hell, one of them did feel somewhat familiar, but she had no idea who her friend was fighting. It wouldn't be Ryusuke, this fight was serious. The way the magic was flaring signified a killing intent, and while the two didn't really get along, their relationship wasn't that bad. She hoped. She turned in her chair and sighed again upon seeing the two still immobile bodies laid out on beds in front of her. The two women looked like they would be okay, but no-one was really sure. They were still unconscious, at any rate.

"Ugh…" Aster's eyes widened as she heard a voice emanate from Rhea. She rushed over, hope welling up in her heart. As she looked down on the lithe, unconscious body, Rhea's eyes fluttered open, still looking dazed and confused. "What the hell happened? Aster? That you?" she groaned.

"Rhea… you're awake!" She embraced the only half-conscious girl with a smile.

"Yeah," she replied groggily, "I think so, at least."

Aster pulled back and beamed widely. However, something happened that shattered her happiness completely. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as one of the magical presences she had felt disappeared from the world entirely. _Celeste…_

* * *

"_Sister, why have I never met my mommy and daddy?" A young girl of around four years old stared at a kindly old nun with large, inquisitive blue eyes. Her short blond hair fluttered lightly in the wind as her frilly white dress did the same._

"_Well," she answered, "I'm afraid I don't know. You see, you were brought to our doorstep by a kind stork, who wished to bless us with a little miracle such as yourself, my dear."_

_A gentle breeze blew throughout the beautiful spring morning, rustling through the grass and flowers planted in the gorgeous garden of a simple, Christian orphanage. Small spires reached for the skies, and trees loomed over even the building itself._

"_But why? Why do I not have a mommy or daddy?"_

_She smiled. "God works in mysterious ways, dear."_

* * *

"_You should sit down, child. There is something important I have to tell you."_

"_What is it, sister?" The innocent seven year old sat down on a seat across from the kindly nun who she regarded as being as close to a mother as she would ever get._

"_Firstly, remember what you have been taught. Always live an honest life to be accepted at the gates of heaven. Secondly, I am very sorry to tell you this, but I believe you are ready. Surely by now you know that you were not brought to us by a wise old bird, yes?"_

_The girls face sank into a depression. "Of course, but I don't know why you won't tell me what happened to my parents."_

"_That is why we sit here. In birthing you, your mother lived her final moments. The depression was simply too much for your father and he took his own life."_

_The girl looked down, tears threatening to fall from her eyes._

* * *

_This was it. For a long month, she had been unable to move, unable to think, unable to process anything but her own sadness and desperation. She had been told to live honestly by people who had been lying to her in a massive display of hypocrisy. Her depression was pushing her over the edge, quite literally. She had never known her parents, and until now had never known what had even become of them. It saddened her to the brink of despair, hell, she was probably already there. There was no turning back. This was her event horizon, and the time was now. Casting herself forward, she propelled herself off the cliff ledge._

_Falling._

_Falling._

_Falling._

_Dead._

* * *

"_Evangeline… why would you do this to yourself?" A soft, feminine voice penetrated her ears. This couldn't be. She was dead, wasn't she?_

"_You're just a child… I know I can't talk much, but killing yourself isn't the way to go when you still have so much of a life to live." This voice was decidedly masculine, but still gentle, as if it were readying to engulf her in a warm embrace. Wait, what did he say? Confusion remained, but she was starting to guess who these voices were._

"_I didn't give birth to you for this… I know you wanted to see us, but this isn't the way. You have a whole life to live first."_

"_Go and live. Live your life, if not for yourself then for the two of us. Make us proud of you, Evangeline." The voice faded away as she felt herself pulled back to reality._

_She awoke. She was laid out on a table, a cut in her stomach dripping with blood. She screamed. A man in surgeon's garb looked at her shocked, a scalpel dropping from his hands. She stood up and ran away before he could collect himself. She felt dark, and she didn't know how she was alive, but she had been given a second chance. She would use it. She would go out and live an honest life. The power she felt coursing through her gave her new resolve. She would rid the world of the dishonesty and lies that had caused her so much pain. She would eradicate the treachery that had enveloped society. Evangeline Mae: the new arbiter of truth and justice._

* * *

Celeste knew this was the end, so she braced herself to meet her maker. She had failed to get away, and thus she readied for death. Darkness. The great beyond. But it never came. Her eyes snapped open to see a dark grey overcoat flapping in front of her as a katana cut clean through Evan's arm at the shoulder, causing blood to spurt from the stump as the girl looked at her missing limb, dumbfounded. She screamed as she realized the pain, her blood pumping onto Celeste's face and decorating the street.

"Looks like I got here just in time, huh?" said Ryusuke.

Celeste merely stared at him, her jaw agape.

"For what it's worth," he sighed, "I'm sorry. You had to leave because of me, and that put you in danger."

Celeste blushed and flashed him a glare. "Shut the hell up."

He smirked. "Same old Celeste, I see, even staring death in the face. I'm guessing the Reaper blinked first."

"Yeah, and I could have handled myself!" Despite her words, she really was grateful. The Reaper may have blinked, but that was only because he showed up to help fend him off.

"I don't doubt it."

Meanwhile, Evan glared at the two, her eyes wide with mania, her face a mask of rage. The stump of her right arm still spurted out high-pressure blood, but she held up her knife and pointed it at them as she screamed.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! No matter what you do to me, I will finish this! I'll kill you both! Neither of you has been able to beat me, and nothing's changed! I saw my parents in heaven and I made them a promise! I said-"

"Shut the hell up!" Ryusuke roared, a death glare fixed on Evan. "Heaven? Don't make me laugh, there's no such thing! You're just a spoiled child after an ideal world which can never exist! You want to kill liars? There will always be more! You want to rid the world of treachery, to make it a place where only the honest can live, is that right? Don't be so fucking naïve! That world can never exist! Within humanity, there will always exist evil, because without it, good can't exist either! So get your head out of your ass, because the world doesn't operate in black and white! You think you're so special? You met your parents in heaven, you said, so they're dead, right? You think you're the only one with dead fucking parents?! Boo-fucking-hoo, look at the poor kid with no parents, isn't that a crying shame?! No matter what, that doesn't excuse what you've done!"

She gained an inhuman grin, her knife dissipating from her hand. "You really think so?" Her voice was cracking, and she sounded incredibly unstable. "You're an idiot! The end will always justify the means, and once people are too scared to commit evil, there will be no evil! Shotgun!" An ethereal shotgun appeared in her hand, and she blasted Ryusuke straight in the stomach with it. As with the last time, he felt no pain, but this time, he didn't fall. He felt his gut churn with terror. "You see!" she giggled. "Even your fear, now, gives me the power to slay those who would do so wrong! Now you'll both die!"

He gave a growl, and advanced upon her, causing her grin to falter. "You think you can fight me? You're missing an arm. I'll end this in one blow." Solar light gathered beneath his feet before he disappeared in a blur. When next he appeared a second later, he was stood behind Evan, his sword held out to his side. Evan gave a wordless gasp, and suddenly, blood exploded from a lateral slash across her chest. The street literally became painted red by her blood, both from her arm and from her chest. She fell, her life just about having left her body as she hit the ground.

_Mommy… Daddy… I'll be seeing you again sooner than you wanted… I'm sorry._

Ryusuke turned to face Celeste, still kneeling with her hand applying pressure to the wound caused by Evan's knife. Sunheart was still at her side, the blade now devoid of all charges. "You should let me bandage that up for you, y'know," he said softly.

"What makes you think I need your help?" she growled.

He sighed, and his voice regained its usual bored tone. "You wanna bleed out?"

"You wanna fight?"

"I feel like I'd have an unfair advantage, I'm already stronger than you and you're injured," he yawned.

She grunted and crossed her arms. "Then you can bandage me up so I can kick your ass."

He quickly gave a small smile that dropped back to indifference as he produced a roll of bandages and medical tape from one of his inside pockets. "What else do you carry in there?" enquired Celeste.

"Everything," he replied simply. Even as he began wrapping the bandages awkwardly around Celeste's midsection, something felt wrong. It didn't feel finished. It didn't feel like they'd won yet.

"You're awful at this, Ryusuke."

"I'm not a doctor, what do you expect?"

"A basic level of competence?"

"I can always wrap them tighter."

"Yes, yes, continue to fight. Do my job for me! You Angel's Breath brats have been nothing but thorns in my side since this entire operation began!" An unfamiliar voice carried through the air into their conversation, causing them both to turn, instantly alert. Ryusuke maintained his mask of indifference, but Celeste dropped all pretence and glared hatefully at the man.

"Brat? I'm nineteen, you're just old."

"Ryusuke Yugure, yes? And you have with you Celeste Arturia, one of my main targets."

"I guess you're the guy behind this whole operation?" He gave a lazy glare as he reached for his now sheathed katana.

The man gave a small laugh that seemed to mask an underlying rage. "Yes, now both of you should prepare to die!"

* * *

AN: So that happened. Yes, Ryusuke is awful at field dressings. And Rosa gives unbelievably long explanations for no reason, according to Bane. Maybe he's just impatient. And Rhea woke up, which I know will tremendously please at least one reader. And all you hopeful RyuRhe shippers out there. Can't ship it if half of it's dead, right? My favourite part of this chapter to write was the end, going back to Ryusuke being a bit of an indifferent asshat, Celeste trying to rile him up, and the silly rabbit, idealism is for kids reason you suck speech he gave. I take pride in that speech. Anyway, Tuesday is your main update day, you'll get a chapter every Tuesday, you might get one on Fridays, and you'll get one next Thursday too. Oh, and OC SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED. I have enough. Anyway, until next time folks!


	20. Justice in Murder

AN: Hey guys, here is your new chapter! Slightly early, but meh, it's nearly Christmas! I know I said you might get updates on Fridays from now, but you won't. I've started up a new serial called Of Demons and Angels, it's an urban fantasy and it's a standard WordPress link if you wanna check it out (ofdemonsandangels then just your normal WordPress link), and updates Fridays. Anyway, the man in charge of it all has come to bring in the arc's climax! Oh, and I've put the first character poll up on my profile, if everyone reading this could just spare a minute of their time to go and vote it would mean a lot to me! You can vote for up to 10 of the 20 characters there, and if you've submitted a character, don't just vote for yours unless you genuinely like them the best. That's just no fun. The poll will close in the new year, so you'll get the results in the first chapter of 2015! Of course, that means you have plenty of time to vote Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

_With the turn of this knife know, I will take your life…_

* * *

**Justice in Murder**

"I'm beginning to run out of patience with this shit," Ryusuke stated bluntly.

"You're not the only one," growled Celeste.

"Rest assured, you won't live long enough for it bother you much." The man was middle-aged, and his short black hair was combed neatly off to the side. He wore a black, two-piece suit, his tie red.

Ryusuke sighed. "You see, whenever people say that, it basically means that however kicked our asses get, we're not gonna lose. I've been through this kinda shit a lot of times, and I've never lost when someone said that to me."

"I'm afraid your luck is about to run out, brat."

"Like I haven't heard that before." He rolled his eyes. "Who the fuck are you, anyway?"

He laughed. "I suppose it is fitting that you know the name of the man to kill you. You may call me Jessop."

Ryusuke and Celeste both had to stifle a giggle. "Jessop?" he said. "How much did your parents hate you?"

Jessop growled. "That's enough! I trust you've both made peace with your demons."

Ryusuke sighed. "This again, you're like a walking cliché. Just what makes you make want to kill Celeste so much?"

"She hasn't told you? Her family's master plan to take over Fiore, of course! I cannot allow the country I love to be ruled tyrannically by dictators such as the Arturias!"

"I've told you people a million times, I know nothing about that!" Celeste protested. "For all I know, this could just be some kind of elitist excuse to wipe a fallen noble family off the goddamn map!"

Jessop chuckled. "Of course that isn't what it is. Your grandparents, shortly before they died, left behind secret documents detailing their plans of domination. They were, we assume, meant for your mother, but my family managed to intercept them, and learn the dark secret of the Arturia family. We've been attempting to destroy the clan for years, but that troublesome Ealdwine man and Valdea harlot always seemed to get in the way at the critical moment. But we've led Ealdwine on a wild goose chase in the mountains of Magnolia, and Valdea is far away, so it is finally time for the stain of the Arturias to be wiped from existence!"

Ryusuke's expression darkened. "Call her a harlot again and I'll slice you to pieces."

Jessop's eyes narrowed. "An interesting threat, and one on which you will be unable to follow through."

"If you intercepted the plans, why do you think my mother knows about them?" asked Celeste.

"Don't be silly, child, no-one would be idiotic enough to send someone plans like that without at least telling them first."

"And what makes you so sure she told Celeste?" Ryusuke continued with the questioning.

"I have my sources."

"And you won't reveal them?

"Of course not."

"So what you're saying is that you're operating on speculation?"

"It's more concrete than that, boy!"

"Oh, so I've graduated to 'boy' now, have I?"

"I've just about had enough of your back-talking."

"I've just about had enough of your talking."

"If you wanna kill me, then come at me, you bastard!" Celeste interjected. "'Cause I've had enough of you as well!"

Jessop grinned. "It would be my pleasure, little girl."

Celeste almost exploded. "Little girl? I'm sixteen, you asshole!"

Ryusuke, meanwhile, was glaring daggers at his enemy. "If you really plan to murder my friend, then you'll have to get through me first."

"I can handle this myself!" Celeste exclaimed.

"You're injured," he sighed.

"I don't give a crap, it's not enough to stop me!"

"You have a hole in you."

Celeste put her face dangerously close to Ryusuke's, sparks flying between their glares. "I'll put a hole in you if you don't shut up."

"How mature."

She crashed her forehead into his, neither side backing down. "I'll show you mature!"

"Ahem," Jessop coughed. "As amusing a display as this is, I'm afraid I'll have to stop you there. The piper calls, you know."

"Piss off," said Ryusuke, his gaze flat and still focused on Celeste's determined glare. "We're busy."

Jessop did a double take and almost fell over. "Wh-what?! How dare you! Show some respect, brat!"

"Earn it, then, you fucking murderer." He resisted as Celeste pushed her head forward into him.

He gave a contemplative look. "Murder, hm? I cannot say you're wrong, but the fact is that this is for a greater cause! It might infringe on moral boundaries, but it is the right thing! This may be murder, but in it there is justice!"

"You have a pretty screwed up definition of right and wrong," growled Celeste.

"That's enough of this mindless babble. It's about time you died."

"I agree. I'm gonna clean your clock." Celeste gave Ryusuke a monstrous headbutt, causing him to crumble in a heap, holding onto his damaged forehead. "Load!" Thirty green ticks appeared up the blade of Sunheart, signifying its capacity to be full. "Deploy!" Ten fireballs emerged as Celeste span in a circle, draining the gunblade of ten charges. They rested in a circle around Celeste, until she waved her sword forward and one cannoned towards Jessop.

He pulled a shining circle from his pocket, an emerald embedded in its centre. "Emerald Shield!" A translucent green shield burst from the gem, encompassing a wide radius and obscuring Jessop almost completely. The fireball simmered out harmlessly on the shield, but Celeste was already rushing forward, the fireballs following her. Another two were launched straight at him, and he smirked. "More won't break my shield, you know."

"That wasn't the plan." Celeste waved a hand and one fireball rushed out behind Jessop, striking his back and burning away some of his clothes as well as singing his skin, even as the other fireball fizzled out before his shield.

"Impressive, but that's all the damage you'll do. Emerald Blast!" A large stream of green energy came from the gem, barrelling towards Celeste. Since she was already in mid-movement, it would be difficult to dodge, and the speed of the attack certainly didn't help. She braced for the attack to hit.

It never did, Ryusuke standing in front of her with a Twilight Guard technique active, his sword held pointing downwards, still rubbing his head. "This is why you let me help."

"Whatever," she grunted. "Just don't get in my way."

As if adhering, he jumped out of her path, leaving her with a straight run at Jessop. Her rush was short, and she was quickly upon him. "Point-Blank Shot!" Swinging diagonally, she caught the man in her explosion, jumping back to survey her work.

"I'll be very surprised if that took him out." Ryusuke gazed indifferently at the cloud of smoke.

"Shut up! I'll be surprised if I don't take you out."

Ryusuke pointed to the figure emerging, unharmed, from the smoke. "Told you."

The smoke cleared, revealing that Jessop had activated his emerald shield in the nick of time, taking no damage from Celeste's attack. "Do you like my Gem Magic? Each gem has different effects, of course, but it's all otherwise mostly the same."

"So what does the emerald do?" asked Ryusuke.

"Now that would be telling!"

"Did you really think he was gonna tell you?" said Celeste, exasperation present in her tone.

"He seems to love talking, it was worth a shot."

"You don't seem to be too averse to it yourself," he growled. Ryusuke appeared to have somehow offended him.

"Someone has to snark at the bad guys," he shrugged.

"Emerald Wave!" Slamming the jewel downwards, Jessop projected a huge sine wave of emerald energy towards the two mages. Unwilling to find out first-hand the effect of the emerald attacks, both jumped to the side as the wave oscillated upon their position.

"Shadow Sneak." With shadow magic appearing beneath his feet, Ryusuke disappeared, appearing a moment later in front of Jessop, so close even the jewel was held out further than him. "Twilight Cutter!" His sword and fists were shrouded in twilight, and he wasted no time in punching his enemy in the face. With Jessop reeling, he struck horizontally across the man's abdomen. Jessop managed a narrow dodge back, but was still grazed by the tip of the sword, with the magic imbued strike deepening the cut and causing blood to seep out through his shirt. The tip of his tie fell to the floor.

"So you want close quarters combat? Very well. Emerald Blade!" A blade of pure green energy erupted from the centre of the gem, and Jessop quickly struck out at Ryusuke. Tracking back, he managed to block the strike, but Jessop was quick in recalibrating his attack as he stabbed at Ryusuke's throat. Ducking down, he slashed at Jessop's kneecaps but was rewarded by the man jumping deceptively high above his blade, and coming down with his blade raised high. "Emerald Sword Technique: Poison Fang!"

"Twilight Guard!" Green sparks crackled around the sword as it collided with Ryusuke's shield. Jessop pushed against it, but Ryusuke wouldn't give an inch. When he finally gave it up, preparing his sword for another attack, Ryusuke smirked and pointed behind Jessop.

He turned in time to be sent flying as seven fireballs collided with him, burning through his clothing and skin in several places. He stood, singed and smoking, and growled. "A surprise attack? You really do have no honour."

"Honour plays no part in a life or death battle," sighed Ryusuke. "It pisses me off when people, especially people like you, fight to achieve the moral victory. There's no point in it. Me and Celeste? We fight to piss on the other guy's grave."

"Another reason you should be committed to the ground!" He rushed at Celeste this time, his emerald blade colliding with her buckler with a clang.

"For being pragmatists? She was right, you really do have a fucked up definition of right and wrong." He ran at the back of Jessop, slashing down. To his astonishment, the man turned with amazing speed, pulling a jewel with a ruby set inside it from his pocket and forming a red shield, catching his katana upon it.

"It is you who has a skewed definition of right and wrong, supporting this little whore."

Ryusuke glared daggers at the man, before letting loose a huge slash that he could only dodge. "Don't call my friends names. Like I said before, I'll cut you into pieces."

"Ruby Blast!" The energy was released straight at Ryusuke, far too fast for him to dodge.

"Twilight Slash!" His sword imbued with the attack, he slashed into the blast of ruby energy, practically cutting the attack in half.

"Artillery Strike!" Celeste pulled the trigger of Sunheart and sent a fireball straight at the back of Jessop, but he was quick enough to catch the attack on his Emerald Shield. She rushed forward, swinging at his face with her sword. Blocking that attack, he was surprised to see her buckler closing in on his face and smacking him, sending him reeling backwards, straight into Ryusuke's path.

"Twilight Coffin!" The box enclosed the stunned Jessop with urgency, and Ryusuke and Celeste quickly jumped back, with him slashing laterally through the air. The coffin exploded massively, covering their entire battlefield with smoke.

"You two are really beginning… to piss me off!" As the smoke cleared, Ryusuke and Celeste looked on to see the burned and bloodied form of Jessop. He was still standing, and looking very angry, in fact. His blazer was all but torn away, mere rags flapping in the wind. "Absorbtion! Emerald, Jade, Ruby, Amethyst! Gemstone Form!" Four jewels, each with a gemstone set within it that he had just named, began to circle around the man's abdomen, being absorbed into him in a flash of light combining the four colours of the gems in a dazzling display. When vision was restored, he had taken on an inhuman form. His skin looked angular and hard as a rock, each of the colours ruby, jade, amethyst and emerald swirling on his skin, giving him the look of a prism refracting a limited spectrum.

"That's new…" said Ryusuke.

* * *

"What the hell's happening?"

"Well," Aster replied, "that Evan girl gave you and Ms. Arturia heart attacks-"

"I got that part."

"Well, apparently it's this organisation thing that thinks Celeste and her mom are trying to take over Fiore, so they're trying to kill them both. And the rest of us, apparently, because we're associated with them."

"Then where is she?" Rhea groaned. "And Ryu-kun?"

"They had an argument again, she stormed out, he went after her. Now I'm feeling these magical tremors and its worrying me."

"I'm worried too… what if they run into an opponent they can't handle?"

"Don't even think about it. If you overexert yourself you could die, they're strong enough to fight off anyone who goes after them."

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't stop me from worrying about them." _Celeste… Ryu-kun… you'd better not die!_

* * *

"Ruby Blast!" The attack connected with Ryusuke before he could even blink. He was sent flying back, the attack burning him. He stood up, his breathing ragged, and flapped his coat around, seeing several strips of fabric burned off, and his coat-tails burned beyond repair. He took it off and tossed it aside, revealing his toned arms within a short-sleeved black shirt. His face was slightly burned, and he felt like he'd been hit by the breath of a fire dragon, but was okay otherwise.

"Celeste," he said, his tone dangerous. "remind me to rob this guy when we're done. He owes me for a new coat."

Celeste gave an exasperated sigh. "It's the middle of freakin' summer! What do you need it for?"

"Rule one: don't question the coat."

"I thought rule one was 'don't break the furniture'?"

"That's rule four."

"Wasn't rule four 'if in doubt, be sarcastic'?"

"No, that's rule two."

"You have too many rules."

"Would you stop this infernal babbling!" screamed Jessop. "Jade Explosion!" Jade coloured energy burst from his body, catching Ryusuke and Celeste as it went, knocking them both to the floor.

"I changed rule one," he groaned. "Talking is _not_ a free action." He attempted to stand, but only managed to get to one knee. "Why the hell is it so hard to move?"

"The effect of jade." Jessop's voice boomed. "It paralyses you!"

"Well that's just great…" Celeste growled.

"Ruby Blast!" Jessop pointed a hand each at Ryusuke and Celeste, ruby energy exploding from each palm. With both unable to move properly, the attacks both scored direct hits, sending the two flying even further back.

"Crap…" Celeste grit her teeth as Jessop advanced upon her.

"It's over for you, Arturia brat!"

"I have a name, you know! And don't think that I'm done just yet! Full Salvo!" Thirteen fireballs erupted from the tip of Sunheart, shooting off in a direction far askew from the required trajectory.

Jessop gave a booming laugh. "Is that it? That's all you can do to preserve your life?"

Celeste smirked. "You won't be laughing in a second." Indeed, Jessop's laughter ceased as the fireballs seemed to begin homing in on him, forcing him to jump away as they exploded on the ground before him, the force of the explosion sending him a few feet backwards. A look over his shoulder tipped him off of the need to dodge again as Ryusuke came flying forward, Twilight Magic exploding in the air.

"That fucking hurt."

"Good, it was rather supposed to. Emerald Wave!" The wave was sent at Ryusuke from close proximity, and its speed was too much. However, he slashed through the attack, meaning that it only collided with a small patch of flesh on his arm, which instantly exploded with pain. "And now you've been poisoned! Just how to you intend to live if you're so careless?"

"Suck a dick." Ryusuke grit his teeth as he hacked out the poisoned flesh, almost letting out a pained scream as he did so. Blood flowed freely from the wound as he hissed. Shit, that hurt.

"Such fortitude, but it means nothing! Emerald blast!" This time, Ryusuke was able to jump over the attack, and came down slashing at Jessop. "Ruby Blade!" Jessop blocked Ryusuke's attack with his energy sword, riposting into a lock with the twilight mage.

"You keep forgetting about your primary target," said Ryusuke. Jessop turned to see Celeste slashing at him, Sunheart impacting with his crystalline skin. However, it did nothing but chip it slightly.

"It doesn't matter! I'm nigh invulnerable!"

"Spin on it. Twilight Slash!" Once again, he kept the energy shrouded around his sword as he slashed. He managed to break several fragments of the gemstone from his torso, causing him to gasp in pain as the energy exploded into him, forcing him back and taking more of his gemstone skin from him.

"Reload! Point-Blank Shot!" Celeste's wild attack connected, exploding in flames. When they cleared, Jessop was revealed to have slightly blackened skin, but there didn't appear to be much more damage than that, even after they had chipped away at his gemstone skin.

Jessop gave an aggravated sigh. "Surely the two of you realise the futility of your efforts by now?"

"Not a chance in hell!" Celeste jumped back, pointing Sunheart to the sky. "Bombing Run!" Twenty ticks disappeared as the same number of fireballs exploded into the sky. As they reached the apex of their ascent, both Ryusuke and Celeste jumped away whilst they began to accelerate downwards at an alarming rate, headed straight towards Jessop. He didn't bother dodging even as a massive explosion of flames engulfed him.

"I really fucking hope that did it…" Ryusuke sighed.

Alas, it was not to be, and Jessop ran out of the flames straight at Celeste. His slash was unopposed and cut her from shoulder to hip, blood spurting from the wound as she crumpled in a heap.

"Twilight Spear!" Ryusuke threw the spear at Jessop, who simple batted it away with a hand before turning on him. He ran towards Ryusuke, sword poised to stab him. However, Ryusuke was prepared for the attack, and dodged away to the side, stabbing at his neck. Of course, it did nothing but chip away a tiny fragment of the man's skin.

"Stay the hell out of my way!" he screamed. "I've had enough of you! Jade Explosion!" Ryusuke was sent flying away, paralysed, and landed heavily upon his front. He raised his head to see his enemy's hand pointed straight at Celeste, red energy coalescing in his palm, and a tear slid from his eye.

"Shit… I'm sorry, Celeste." He could only watch as Jessop's attack finished charging, the winds picking up heavily around them and flapping everything within its caress.

_Blow of sorrow, goodbye tomorrow…_

* * *

AN: Did I do good? Steve (yes that's my name) do good? And yes, I named the villain after a camera company. Sorry if it seems a bit short, but there's only so much I can do with a single fight. There's pretty much nothing else important going on right now. Anyway, I very much hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you have a comment, question, criticism or moan then please leave a review. As usual, I will do my best to respond to every single one! And the 'rules' banter gave me an idea for a little 'Ryusuke's Rules' one-shot, because that _totally _wouldn't be plagiarism. I just hope Lee Child doesn't read Fairy Tail FanFiction. That's it for now, so in the meantime while you wait for your Christmas present from me, go vote for your favourite characters and read Of Demons and Angels! Until next time, folks!


	21. EX-2 - Christmas Time

AN: Ho ho ho, merry Christmas, one and all! Unless you're not reading this on Christmas, in which case as you read this my wish will travel back in time to Christmas 2014, and the wish will also compel you to read this story/chapter at some point in your future, which is why you are reading this right now! Basically like Steins;Gate, but without a microwave. And the world line doesn't shift. Be that as it may, I hope everyone is enjoying/enjoyed their Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Winter Solstice or whatever you celebrate! Or just your day if you don't celebrate anything. A quick note, this is non-canon. It's early June in-story, and if I skip ahead to Christmas there will be spoilers I simply can't avoid. Still, it's fun and characters and stuff. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**EX-2 – Christmas Time**

_Christmas time, just let the bells ring! _A high pitched voice rang throughout the Angel's Breath guild hall from speakers somewhere in the room, and the only person present rubbed his bleary eyes.

"Why the hell do I have to be here so early?" Ryusuke groaned, still not fully awake. He took a swig of his steaming cup of coffee, the drink alerting him slightly. When in doubt, drink coffee. It was very early morning, so early, in fact, it was still dark outside. The guild hall was lavishly decorated all around, with tinsel of every colour imaginable hanging from the wall in a beautiful display, flowers, mistletoe and holly wreaths put up at certain points, especially by the doors. In the corner of the main hall was a gargantuan Christmas tree, decorated beautifully with baubles and tinsel, flashing lights lining the branches. Paper chains hung from the bar in the colours of green and red, and smaller Christmas trees were placed about the room. Underneath the main tree was a seemingly never-ending pile of presents, all wrapped in festive paper, some done better than others. Except a few that appeared to be wrapped in tinfoil. Apparently someone had deemed wrapping paper an unnecessary expense. How he wished he'd thought of that.

"Ryusuke!" called Rosa. "Merry Christmas! I didn't think you'd show up when I told you to!" She approached him with a smile on her face and his jaw dropped. She was wearing a Santa outfit, complete with hat and a skirt of the expected design.

He recovered himself quickly and looked at her with dead eyes. "You threatened to castrate me if I didn't."

Rosa giggled. "Oh, I'm sorry! I just love Christmas!"

"I can tell."

"Do you like it?"

"It certainly makes a change from all the white."

"Well, now all we have to do is wait for the rest of the guild to wake up!"

Ryusuke sighed. "You dragged me here this early on pain of losing my reproductive organs, and yet you're not gonna wake everyone else up? This feels unfair."

"Well, would you like me to?"

"Preferably violently."

She gave him a quizzical gaze. "Why?"

"What does misery love?"

She beamed at him. "Well, you shouldn't be miserable, it's Christmas! Don't tell me we have a Grinch in our ranks?"

He sighed again. "You weren't like this when I met you."

"That's because you didn't know me yet! If you want to wake everyone up then go ahead, but I take no responsibility for any injuries!"

"You never do…"

* * *

"Stop throwing things at me, you crazy bitch!" Ryusuke ran back into the main guild hall to Rosa's uproarious laughter, a large bump on his forehead. "Why am I the only one!"

"You're not, I told them all to get up by this time, but obviously I'm not gonna follow through on threats like that!"

"You seemed pretty serious to me," he grumbled.

"What's with all the shouting?" Rhea emerged into the room rubbing her eyes. For the second time that morning, Ryusuke's jaw dropped at a woman's attire. Although this time, it was for an entirely different reason. She was dressed in nothing but a pair of incredibly short black shorts and a very tight white tank top. He felt like he should look away, but he simply couldn't bring himself to. The raven-haired beauty was utterly captivating.

"Um, Rhea," he stuttered, "maybe you should go change. You might give someone a heart attack."

She looked at him before her face split into a teasing grin. "Morning, Ryu-kun!" she chirped. "See something you like?" she added seductively, stretching her hands upwards and arching her back, making her breasts stick out prominently.

"Please stop," he pleaded, listening to Rosa try not to wet herself.

"But why?" She sounded genuinely confused. "I thought you enjoyed this?" The seductive tone returned.

"Why must you do this to me?"

"Do what?" She grinned at him.

"I need a drink."

"It's eight in the morning," said Rosa.

"When Rhea's around, it's whiskey o' clock." He sighed before reaching behind the bar for a bottle of whiskey and a tumbler. He poured himself a generous helping before knocking it all back in one. He needed something stronger than coffee.

"I think I'll go get changed before your pants burst, hm?" teased Rhea.

He merely downed another drink in response.

* * *

"It'sChristmasIt'sChristmasIt'sChristmas!" Nui ran out into the main hall, a look on her face like a child at, well, Christmas.

"We know," moaned Ryusuke, knocking back more whiskey. Nine in the morning and he'd already finished half the bottle.

"Merry Christmas, Nui!" chirped Rosa, dancing towards the girl.

"Merry Christmas, Master! Do we get Christmas dinner? Will there be potatoes? I love potatoes! Potatoes are great, and you can generate power from them and everything! Ooh, and cake! It's Christmas, there's cake, right! Oh well, at least we can all be together to celebrate the birth of Christ!" She ended her sentence with a cheer as she jumped into the air, one arm raised. Rosa and Rhea smiled at the girl's hyperactive display, while Ryusuke sighed.

"Jesus wasn't born anywhere near Christmas."

"Grinch!" Nui stuck her tongue out at him.

"Actually, he's right," explained Rosa. "He was actually most likely born in the springtime, since the sheep were out grazing during his birth. As a matter of fact, Christmas was stolen from Paganism, mainly from the festival of Yule to celebrate the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. It's also because an ancient civilisation converted to Christianity, but their people were rather attached to their Solstice celebration of Saturnalia, and so it was adopted as the date of birth of Christ their saviour, probably because they were trying to monopolise the world in their one religion, and so this holiday that belonged to another religion entirely was aggressively taken and moulded to their own beliefs."

Everyone's face faulted. "That was longer than it had to be," Ryusuke said drily.

"A lot longer…" agreed Rhea.

"I thought Christmas would be over by the time she finished."

"I can still hear you, you know." Rosa sounded amused.

"Whatever." Ryusuke downed another drink.

"If you don't slow down then Santa's going to bring you alcohol poisoning!" warned Rosa, still smiling.

"I'm not drunk enough for this shit yet."

"Grinch~" Rhea sang.

"I am not a Grinch!"

* * *

The entire guild was finally awake and present, chatting amongst themselves and enjoying the festivities. Except Ryusuke, who had since finished his bottle of whiskey and was passed out on the floor, prompting a couple of people to be leaning over him with a pen.

"What do you wanna draw?" asked Dean.

"A dick?" Cyrus suggested.

"How imaginative…"

"You two amateurs should move aside!" Celeste gave an evil smirk. "I'll show you how it's done." She snatched the marker from Dean and went to work. Within a couple of minutes she had completely defaced him, standing back up and tossing the pen up and down in her hand, a victorious smirk upon her face. "Tell me this is permanent."

Meanwhile, Eiko and Nui were clashing, locked in a battle of wills. "Bleach!" Nui insisted.

"One Piece!" retorted Eiko.

"Bleach!"

"One Piece!"

"One Piece is just a bunch of pirates running around doing pirate things! It's boring!"

"Bleach is boring! The plot is so predictable it's like reading bad FanFiction!"

"Well your main character looks like a monkey!"

"That's his damn name! The main character in Bleach is named after a fruit!"

"Yeah, well so are you!"

"No I'm not! My name means 'eternal long-lived child'!"

"So you're a child?"

"You're the child!"

"Well you're an idiot!"

"And you're crazy!" The two just stood glaring at each other and growling, before Rosa and Rhea nodded at each other from across the room, smiling at each other knowingly.

"Mistletoe~" chimed Rosa, pointing at a sprig of mistletoe directly above Eiko and Nui. "Now you have to kiss!"

They continued glaring at each other for a moment before Nui jumped into Eiko's arms, forcing him backwards a couple of paces, and planted a passionate kiss upon his lips. Eiko's surprise was so great that he lost his balance and fell backwards, Nui finally resurfacing after a few seconds.

"Um, we're not under the mistletoe anymore," he gasped out. He felt like all the energy had been drained from his body, and that was saying something.

"Oh, so we're not," chirped Nui in reply. She climbed off him and walked away.

"I know I'm dead, but is this heaven or hell?"

Across the room, Bane sat laughing at the entire scene. He certainly enjoyed the insanity that occurred within his guild. However, a knot of dread filled his stomach as he saw Rhea approaching, a grin upon her face. She was up to something, and he wanted no part in it. Unfortunately, he knew that the woman was devious enough to rope him in to whatever she had planned. He could only hope that wasn't her intention.

"Merry Christmas, Bane!" she chirped happily.

"Merry Christmas, Rhea."

"Enjoying the show?"

"Immensely."

"Wanna be a part of it?"

He waved his hands out urgently in front of him. "Uh-uh. Hell no. Not a damn chance, I'm not crazy."

"Aw, come on," she pouted. "All you have to do is go and stand near Wisteria!"

"No."

"Come on Bane, do it for me!"

"No. Go trick your boyfriend."

"Ryu-kun? He's asleep, and he's a canvas for some of Celeste's artwork."

Bane grinned. "I gotta see that, but more importantly, I notice you didn't deny that he was your boyfriend?"

She smirked. "Well, I didn't think you'd be playing matchmaker, Bane."

"Who says I'm playing matchmaker? I just think you two should spit it out already."

"Spit what out?" she asked innocently.

"You know exactly what."

"I'm pretty sure I have no idea what you're talking about. Anyway, I've gotta run, I have more chaos to cause."

Bane gave a small smile at her antics before he realised something. "Dammit… she dodged the question…"

"WHO THE FUCK DREW ON MY FACE?!"

* * *

Having washed the marker from his face (with great effort), Ryusuke was out for blood. He approached Dean, Cyrus and Florence, all of whom were sat on a sofa, and levelled his best death glare at them. "Who dies?"

"Calm the hell down!" said Florence. "You shouldn't be so uptight."

"Besides," smirked Cyrus, "you were a pretty cute kitty-cat."

Dean and Florence burst into laughter as Ryusuke levelled his breathing. He resumed his usual indifferent tone, but still glared daggers at the trio. "Tell me who did it and I'll overlook that."

"Take three guesses, drunky," laughed Dean. Ryusuke turned, his coat flapping as he did so. Locating his target in the room, he walked over and gave a thunderous punch to her head.

"What the hell, asshole?!" Celeste screamed. "I'm gonna murder you!" She kicked him heftily in the gut, sending him flying back so he landed on a table that Styles occupied, nearly crushing Nina.

Styles looked at the entire scene with dead eyes. "Alright then." He stood up and walked over the Celeste, headbutting her to the floor. Aster turned, and seeing the carnage, just couldn't help herself.

"Let's do this! I'll beat you all!" She launched herself at Styles, knocking him down with an impressive forearm shot. Her victory was short-lived, however, as Ryusuke came in and leaped into a rugby tackle, rolling across the floor with her before standing up at the same time as Celeste. This time, he was quicker and his kick sent her flying back to land on Lucina.

"If you're going to throw Celestes at me, I might just have to take your blood by force," she giggled, before throwing Celeste from her and walking over to Ryusuke. He attempted to strike pre-emptively, but his drunken punch was blocked and he was sent flying backwards, landing on Wisteria, his momentum forcing her back into the wall.

"You die now," she growled, hefting Ryusuke up and throwing him with great force at Lucina. He collided and the two landed in a… rather suggestive position.

"My, aren't you forward," giggled Lucina.

"Don't."

"You know," she whispered in his ear, "I've been told that if I suck a guy's blood from his neck it's quite… erotic."

"You _really _need to work on your sense of humour."

Nui, meanwhile, saw what was going on and decided to clothesline the running Eiko. "What was that for?" he groaned.

"We're all fighting!"

Before long, almost the entire guild had entered into a massive free-for-all, people switching opponents after almost every strike. It was, indeed, a brawl worthy of the Angel's Breath name. And, par the course, it was all because of Ryusuke and Celeste. Speaking of those two, a loud cracking noise reverberated as Celeste power-bombed Ryusuke through a table.

"Did you forget rule four? Don't break the fucking furniture!" He stood up and gave her a huge straight right.

The only people abstaining from the brawl were Rhea and Bane, sat off to one side, Bane chuckling and Rhea guffawing. Sat on the other side of the room, shying away from the conflict, were Mari, Melody and Echo.

"Why do they have to fight?" asked Mari.

_I don't think we should go near them_,Echo scrawled in the air with her light pen.

"But it's Christmas…" Melody whined.

"Would you all STOP DESTROYING MY GUILD HALL!" Rosa announced her re-entrance with this shout, her voice laced with the authority her position gave her and a dark aura emanating from her person. "I left you alone for ten minutes – ten minutes! It's Christmas, can you not all go without fighting for a single day?!"

"Nope," came a chorus of replies.

She growled. "Who started it?" In response, several fingers pointed straight at Ryusuke, who was picking himself up from the wreckage of another table.

"Oh, come on! Don't fuckin' tell on me!"

"Rhea," said Rosa. "Punish him."

"With pleasure." Rhea's eyes shone with a sadistic gleam and her face twisted into a malevolent smirk.

Ryusuke tried to run away, but was caught at the collar by Wisteria. "Take your punishment."

"Fine." He walked dejectedly over to Rhea, who forcefully grabbed him and, sinking to one knee, threw him over the raised one.

And all that could be heard for the ensuing minute was the sound of loud slaps and pained screams.

* * *

"Okay, time for presents!" chirped Rosa, dancing over to the Christmas tree. "The first one is for Celeste, from Ryusuke!" Celeste walked up to Rosa and talk the present, wrapped very skilfully in silver paper. It was a long, thin rectangle, and Celeste tore at the paper eagerly. Inside was an unassuming black box, which she opened lengthways, revealing a sword resting upon tissue paper. It was a four-foot long daito, pure black with a manji cross-guard and a small chain dangling from the pommel.

"I think I recognise this from a manga…" she said, balancing the sword in her hands.

"I should hope so," sighed Ryusuke. "You have a poster of it in your room."

"Wait a second," she said suspiciously, "when were you in my room?"

"A few days ago."

"So it was you…" She growled before gripping the sword into a ready stance.

"No idea what you're talking about," he said innocently.

"So you're insinuating that you just so happened to be in my room around the time several of my shirts randomly gained holes at the nipples?"

"Insinuating? That's a big word for you."

"Don't avoid the question!"

"Yes, I am. I was looking for ideas, I'm awful at gifts."

"So how did you get ideas for everyone else?"

"Surreptitious investigation."

"My ass."

He sighed. "Some people would just say thank you."

"Some people don't have their privacy violated and their clothes ruined."

"I didn't ruin your fucking clothes."

Rosa coughed loudly. "Moving swiftly on… who wrapped their presents in tinfoil?"

"Me," said Styles. "I don't see why I should have to waste money on wrapping paper and tape when I could just use that."

"Okay," sighed Rosa. "Celeste, this is yours as well." She took the cubic tinfoil package and peeled away the wrapping to find a box containing a small music lacrima.

"Reasons not to be an idiot?" she growled.

"Yeah, I saw it and thought it was the perfect song for you."

"I'm gonna kill you!"

Celeste found her path blocked by Rosa. "Now, Celeste," she said sweetly, her smile containing drastic undertones of malevolence, "no fighting, remember?"

"Yes master," she said sullenly.

"Okay, Bane, this is yours!" She handed him the tinfoil wrapped package and he opened it.

"It's a book. Called… How to Combat Alcoholism." He sighed. "Thank you, Styles," he said sincerely, putting the book down on a table.

"Ryusuke, from Rhea!" Rosa called. The aforementioned man walked up, taking a soft package wrapped haphazardly in red paper with Christmas tree illustrations upon it. He tore open the paper to find an article of clothing, which was revealed to be a mohair overcoat when he held it up. He could only gawk. It was like his usual coat, but purely black, and it looked sleek and very expensive. He gently caressed the material before removing the coat he was wearing and donning the new one. It fit perfectly, the coat-tails falling to just below his knees, with buttons and lapels like a blazer. He looked over at the gift-giver in shock before walking over at pace and pulling her into a warm, tight embrace.

"Rhea… thank you. I love it. I'll treasure it forever."

She smiled softly, returning his embrace. "Thought you might."

"This actually makes up for the fact that I can't sit down for a week."

* * *

All of the tables in the guild hall had been joined together, and there was a hell of a spread sat upon it. Everyone was sat at the table, talking merrily, with alcohol being consumed in copious amounts and the mood of the room high. Crackers were pulled apart, bad jokes were read, and paper hats were placed upon heads. Rosa sighed and smiled at the scene. She really did love her guild.

"Hey, Florence!" called Cyrus. "What's black, white and red?"

"A penguin with sunburn?" she sighed.

"Ha, yeah! But don't ruin the joke next time!"

"It can barely be called a joke," Dean groaned.

"Hey, screw you!"

"Hey, Viktor, knock knock!" said Nui.

"Who's there?" he replied.

"Doctor."

"Doctor Who?"

"Exactly! Hahaha!"

Eiko groaned. "That was awful…"

"Turkey," called Ryusuke, his tone, as usual, indifferent. He was walking into the room with a platter holding a huge, golden, roast turkey. It had all the trimmings, and looked to have been seasoned deliciously, and smelled like heaven. He was wearing a chef's hat and an apron, which he quickly discarded before he took his place next to Rhea.

"Smells amazing," smiled Rosa.

"I didn't know you could cook!" Mari exclaimed.

"You don't know many things about me."

"Maybe he can't and this is awful," suggested Cyrus.

"Fuck you too," Ryusuke sighed.

"Hey, what's this?" Puzzlebox held up a brown, bowl shaped foodstuff.

"It's a Yorkshire pudding."

"Doesn't look like pudding," said Eiko.

"It isn't," sighed Ryusuke. He was surrounded by idiots.

Everyone's attention was diverted by a loud rumbling. "Sorry," Viktor chuckled nervously. "I'm pretty hungry."

"We can tell," laughed Aster.

"We should bless the food before we eat!" said Nui. "Ryusuke, you cooked it so you should do it!"

"Okay," he shrugged. "Dear god, the guild paid for this food and I cooked it. You were, as always, less than useless. My thanks to the master, without whom this wouldn't be possible, and my thanks to me, for cooking the food into a delicious feast."

Nui looked taken aback, while Rhea just chuckled. "How drunk are you?"

"I should be dead."

"Alright," said Rosa, "Everyone dig in!"

And so began a feeding frenzy.

Of course, it wasn't long before someone said the wrong thing, and an argument broke out.

"Say that again, I dare you," growled Celeste.

"You eat like an idiot too," sighed Styles.

"Alright, that's it!" She picked up a helping of stuffing and beaned Styles in the face with it.

"You asked for it." He picked up a chunk of gravy-soaked mash potato and flung it at Celeste. However, she ducked, and it hit Ryusuke's breast.

He looked down at the gravy stain on his new coat and gained an expression like Death himself. "Styles, this was a gift. A gift I treasure. I will not let this slide!" He was about to pick up his own food before a Yorkshire pudding hit him on the head and plonked into his lap. "Nui, did you just throw a Yorkshire pudding at me?"

"Yup!" she chirped.

Ryusuke slung a piece of Turkey straight at Styles' face before sending all manner of vegetables flying at Nui.

"Food fight!" exclaimed Eiko, and all hell broke loose.

Rosa merely backed away from the table and sighed. "I suppose I should let them have this one."

She was just glad of Ryusuke's indifference when Celeste poured gravy into his hair.

* * *

"Who the hell can cook that well so drunk?" Cyrus sighed. Everyone was covered in food, but the scene was otherwise normal.

"Master helped," shrugged Ryusuke, gravy still dripping from his hair.

"Aw, don't be so humble, Ryu-kun! It was delicious~" Rhea cooed.

"How much did you drink?" He rubbed his forehead.

"Not as much as you," she giggled.

"That doesn't tell me much."

"Bane, mon ami!" called Baz. "How about a little drinking contest?"

Bane smiled. "Your funeral."

"Ryusuke, will you be joining us?"

"Never. Again." He shook his head vehemently.

"Are you su-"

"Never. Again." He took another drink as the two went off to perform their contest – which, of course, would be won by Bane. There were very few things that were certain in life, but the rest of the world being unable to outdrink Bane was definitely one of them.

As this occurred, Rhea had snuck off to where Florence and Cyrus were sat together, drinking in a comfortable silence as they let their digestive systems go to work. She shared a knowing glance with Rosa before pointing above the two. "Florence, Cyrus~ You're under the mistletoe!"

The two gazed at each other awkwardly for a second. "Um…" Cyrus couldn't quite find any words.

"Uh…" neither could Florence.

After another moment of awkwardness, Cyrus bit his tongue and planted what was meant to be a quick kiss upon Florence's lips. However, she began to deepen the kiss, leaving the two in the throes of each other's passion.

"Job done," Rhea whispered to herself.

Rosa smirked inwardly. "Now, Rhea, it's about time I gave you a nice surprise of a present… you too, Ryusuke."

A soft guitar melody ran throughout the guild hall, startling Rhea as she saw Ryusuke walk over to her from the speaker system.

"This sounds really nice," she said.

"It's beautiful," replied Ryusuke. _Kinda like you…_

_Rain, sea, surf, sand, clouds and sky…_

"Doesn't sound like a Christmas song…"

"It isn't. I'm kind of done with Christmas for this year."

_Hush now baby don't you cry…_

Rhea smiled at him. "Too much fun?"

"I'm exhausted."

_There's a mocking bird, singing songs in the trees…_

"I'm not surprised."

_There's a mocking bird, singing songs, just for you and me…_

"So what's up?"

"I just wanted to know how you're doing, Ryu-kun." She gave him a warm smile.

_Rain, sea, surf, sand, clouds and sky…_

"It was fun. Tiring, but fun."

"Good."

_Time will see your tears run dry…_

_It really is beautiful_, thought Rosa. _And perfect for this_. She walked over to the two, and pointed above them, grinning. "Look up." So they did, to see they were stood directly under some mistletoe.

"Well, Ryu-kun, we do kinda have to," she smiled.

"I suppose so." His breath hitched, his mouth turning dry. Was this actually happening? Whatever, it could be a hell of a lot worse. And not much better. He leaned forward tentatively.

_There's a mocking bird, singing songs in the trees…_

He stopped, unsure of himself, as Rhea brought up a hand to caress his face.

_There's a mocking bird, singing songs, just for you and me…_

He leaned in further slightly, looking slightly bashful at the action he was about to commit.

_There's a mocking bird, singing songs in the trees…_

Rhea had had enough. The hand on his cheek snaked round to the back of his head, and with a forceful but tender grip, she pulled him into the throes of passion.

_There's a mocking bird, singing songs, just for you and me…_

* * *

AN: You like? I tried to make it funny, so tell me if it wasn't. This is the first time I've tried to be funny and I hope I was successful! Anyway, Reasons Not to be an Idiot is a real song by Frank Turner, How to Combat Alcoholism I just made up, but I wouldn't put money against it being a real book. The song used for the tender RyuRhe moment is Mocking Bird by Barclay James Harvest, and I definitely do not own it. Oh, and everything Rosa said is pretty much true. Yule is actually a Germanic pagan tradition, but Germany and Scandinavia don't exist on Earthland. Anyway guys, I hope you enjoyed the Christmas special! Until next time, folks.


	22. This Day is Mine

AN: I'm really enjoying writing this at the minute, so enjoy an unscheduled update! I do have a lot of missed updates to make up for, after all. And just a quick note, the character poll is still up on my profile. If you have a favourite and you haven't already, go vote! Hope you guys enjoy the chapter.

* * *

_What did you take me for? A fool, or a liar? I'll bet your shaking in your goddamn boots!_

* * *

**This Day is Mine**

The winds in the area were picking up, almost beginning to reach dangerous levels. It was as if the weather itself was objecting to Jessop's actions. He stood, his attack having finished charging. His gem form was slightly chipped, slightly scorched and slightly blackened, but overall he looked a lot better than the girl slumped down a ways in front of him. His mouth slipped upwards into a small, satisfied smirk. He had done it. He'd completed a half of his goal, perhaps even more with the girl's mother still supposedly laid up in the hospital along with that Angel's Breath mage.

He fired.

The attack pushed forward at great speed, almost impossible to dodge. Not that its intended target was making any movements to get out of the way.

The attack connected.

And then Celeste Arturia died.

Except she didn't.

Jessop's attack collided with something and exploded on impact, both him and the helpless Ryusuke assuming that the something had been Celeste's body. Until the smoke cleared. Four small constructs of wind stood between her and the man who had attempted to end her life, rotating at an incredible rate. Tornadoes. They had completely blocked the attack and so, with their job done, dissipated. A new line of sight opened to reveal raven hair flapping in the wind, hazel eyes locked on Jessop in a steely glare.

"Rhea…" Ryusuke breathed.

She favoured him with a small smile. "Damn, that was close." Her mouth returned to a thin line of determination and anger. "You know, I don't take too kindly to people trying to kill my friends."

"And I don't take too kindly to you people continuously getting in my way! Ruby Blast!" The attack fired from Jessop's hand, and Rhea made no attempt to dodge. Instead, with a wind-coated hand, she simply batted the energy away. "Impossible…"

"Very possible. Gale." Thrusting her hand forward, Rhea directed a huge, battering wind at Jessop. However, it wasn't long before all the force of the wind was compressed into a smaller volume, simply a thin stream of wind that cannoned into her opponent's chest. It knocked him from his feet, cracking the area around his chest, and sent him flying back several feet.

"You shouldn't be able to damage me in this form…" groaned Jessop, climbing lethargically to his feet.

"It's simple physics," she explained. "Pressure. The greater the pressure, the greater the damage. And pressure is force over surface area. So I hit you with the same force and what hit you was smaller. More pressure, more damage. And I can put a hell of a lot more force into it." Her tone was laced with malice. "Usually, right now I'd give you the opportunity to run." Her mouth twisted up into a smirk. "But I'm not feeling all that merciful today." Jessop baulked slightly but quickly collected himself.

"It doesn't matter! You should be in the hospital right now, and you aren't exactly looking too healthy! You aren't going to last very long!" He was right. She was a lot paler than normal, her skin almost the colour of chalk. She was breathing a bit more heavily than she should be, too. Subtle hints at best, but they could tell a keen enough observer that she wasn't back up to full health. "You had a heart attack, so there's no way you have the energy to keep this up for long! Emerald Wave!" The sine wave of emerald energy shot towards her, but she paid it no mind as she stepped to the side and allowed it to sail past.

"I won't need very long. Gale Rocket!" Wind coated her hands and feet and she closed the distance between them in an instant. An amplified kick to his head was enough to cause more cracks to appear, and a knee to the gut did even more damage.

Ryusuke looked on in shock. He and Celeste together had only managed to put a few chips in the man's form, but Rhea had come, not even at the best of her ability, and she was winning. Admittedly Celeste had taken a lot of damage from her previous battle, but it just solidified in his mind how strong she was.

Jessop attempted to lay a punch on Rhea, but her speed was such that she had already vacated her position before his arm even started moving. This didn't register in his brain, and his fist kept on moving. About a foot into its movement, he was struck in the small of the back, the back of the neck, the sternum and then the face. He didn't know which way to stumble. In a split second, he had taken four blows, and they had actually _hurt_. Nothing was supposed to hurt in that form of his. Gathering himself, he looked upon his body and realised why he was feeling pain. His gemstone skin was starting to be chipped away. Cracks spider-webbed their way across most of his body, drawing an endless, abstract picture of the struggle he was currently facing. Once it was gone, it was gone until he recovered his energy. He'd had enough trouble against the other two without this form, and this woman appeared to be even stronger. There was no way he was fighting without his gem form, and he wouldn't keep it much longer if he kept taking hits. The woman was fast, but it wouldn't matter much if she couldn't break through his defence.

"Emerald Shell!" A transparent green dome sprung into life around Jessop, but Rhea wasn't worried. She was powerful enough to break through such a paltry barrier. All she needed to do was move faster. Breaking through something was a question of force, and force was equal to mass times velocity squared. It was all in the squared. Increasing speed by twenty percent would increase force by four hundred percent, and she did just that. There was already a lot of speed behind her, and she was about to go even faster. She mentally thanked herself for listening when she had been told that as she closed in on the barrier.

"Rhea, don't fucking touch it!" cried Ryusuke, but it was too late. She was too close and going too fast. Her wind-coated fist hit the barrier, and she waited for whatever harmful was supposed to happen.

And it broke.

Her strike completely shattered the barrier, and her contact time was so minimal that it barely registered and the magic didn't have time to put poison in her system. Jessop was shocked. That was an absolute defence barrier, how could she have shattered it so easily? He didn't have time to think on that, however. Her motion had been opposed, but not enough to stop her. It may have slowed her down somewhat, but her momentum still carried her forward, still almost too quick to see. She could be felt, however, when a palm strike sent Jessop once again flying backwards.

He growled. He'd had about enough of this. "Ruby, emerald, amethyst and jade! Radial Gem Blast!" He began to gain an aura of swirling colours before energy shot outwards in all directions. Without delay, Rhea rushed in front of Celeste, shielding the girl's body with her own. There were two injured, but they were apart from each other and Celeste's condition was worse. The attack tore into her and she screamed. It was powerful, that was for sure, and it damn well hurt. When the assault subsided, her clothes were shredded and the skin of her back was torn, blood flowing freely from the wound. But she could deal with the pain. She looked down at Celeste to find she had taken no damage. She was still unconscious and still bleeding, but she was still alive. Looking over at Ryusuke's position, her gut churned.

He was nowhere to be seen.

Had he been caught badly? Had he been completely disintegrated? She decided that the questions could wait. There were more pressing matters.

"Windscythe!" Almost-invisible blades of wind began rotating in the air as she waved her hand and launched them at high speed. There was no way to dodge. Jessop was caught, the blades slicing through his rock-like skin completely, even going past the gemstone armour and drawing blood in several places. He screamed.

"You damn bitch! Get the hell out of my way! Jade Wave!" A jade-coloured sine wave shot at Rhea, but it was easy enough for her to dodge. She rushed at him, her speed almost incomparable. She intended to end it right there.

"Windblade!" A falchion made of incredibly high density wind appeared in her hand. Readying herself to slice through him, she stopped in her tracks. An incredible agony wracked every nerve. She coughed up blood as she fell to her knees in front of her enemy. "Damn," she growled. She'd overexerted herself, and now she was paying the price. Another coughing fit ensued and she had to support herself with her hands to remain upright.

"Well, look at that," said Jessop, a smug smirk adorning his face. "I was right. You didn't last very long." He pulled back his foot and unleashed a heavy kick straight into her midsection. The force of the blow was such that she flew back before skidding along the ground for several feet, ending a few yards away from him. "I guess you die first. Or second, if the absence of your friend is anything to go by. Or maybe he ran away, but no matter. Ruby Burst!" A spherical projectile of red energy cannoned towards Rhea. Every millimetre of her being was in such pain that she couldn't even begin to think about moving. This was it. It was over.

And then Rhea Yokoshima died.

Except she didn't.

Upon the smoke clearing, Jessop was shocked and angered to see a rectangular shield having blocked it, purple and blinding white swirling around in union. "Is it too much to ask for you to just die?!"

"Of course it is," replied Ryusuke, a dead stare levelled on Jessop. "I quite like my life. How you doing, Rhea?"

She groaned before managing to raise herself into a half-sitting position. "Better than I should be. Thanks for that, Ryu-kun."

"Can you stand up?"

"Maybe."

"Try it." So she did. It was a great struggle, but she managed to drag herself to her feet. He turned to her with a very serious expression. "I've probably got about one shot, but I need you to buy me a few seconds."

She flashed him a smirk. "Consider it done. Those few seconds are gonna be the most pain that bastard's ever felt. And I'm gonna savour every single moment of it." She licked her lips.

"Have I told you that you terrify me sometimes?"

She gave him her usual grin, putting him slightly at ease. "Maybe you should be scared." Sighing, Ryusuke disappeared from view.

"All that bluster and he leaves you to fight for yourself, injured! That may quite possibly be the worst example of a man I've ever seen!" Jessop chuckled.

Meanwhile, although out of Jessop's sight, Ryusuke could see him quite clearly. He held his hands out and down, his sword pointing towards the ground at a forty-five degree angle. "As light may become shadow, and shadow may become light…"

"Gust!" A quick gust of wind began blowing, Jessop's hair flying around in all directions. He laughed.

"Is that all you can do? In such a weakened state, I'm not surprised! About time to die, I think!"

"Windscythe." The blades flew even faster in the gust, and they were forming wherever the wind would blow. After a mere second, the blades converged on him and completely shattered his gemstone armour, revealing the battered and bloodied man beneath. His suit was in pieces, and he didn't look to be holding together much better himself, but he was still standing, red in the face, looking enraged.

"Witness the birth of a union!" Small cubes of Twilight Magic began forming in front of Ryusuke. Ten, in total.

Rhea fell. That last attack had already pushed her past her limits, and there was simply nothing more she could do without killing herself. Her chest hurt. Damn. Still, seeing the pained look on the man's face brought her a small smile.

"You're dead! There's nothing more you can do!" he roared, bringing his hands together.

"Merged together, view the power of the ascended!" The cubes in front of Ryusuke solidified, and he began stabbing through each in quick succession. The stabbing made the energy forming them look volatile, swirling around in the air. "Hey, General Shitname!" He stabbed through the last of the cubes. "Final Song! Twilight Break!" With a single lateral slash, each cube lost its form and coalesced into a massive surge of energy, heading straight for where Jessop stood, stock still. He threw up a shield, but it wasn't enough. Ryusuke's attack shattered through it easily. The energy flooded the air around Jessop and exploded massively. Ryusuke stumbled forward. He was completely out of magic, but he still needed to check on Rhea. He could barely stay on his feet, having to use his hands to help himself on his way. When he got five feet away from her he gave up and fell.

The explosion was ripping him apart. When the attack had hit him it had left a huge wound on his torso, long and wide and deep. He was pretty sure it had cut into a couple of organs and broken some ribs. But the explosion was worse. It was inside him and outside him at the same time. It blew his wound to an even greater size, and gave him several new ones as well as many, many burns. He was scorched. But when the smoke cleared, Ryusuke and Rhea looked up to see him somehow still on his feet. He looked like shit. He was burned all over, blood leaking from his body in inordinate amounts, so much coating him that it was hard to tell where it was all coming from.

Jessop turned to face the unconscious Celeste, the movement of his neck incredibly laboured. He was about to fall, but he could finish his work. Just one small hit. He shakily raised his hand before the scene in front of him registered in his mind. The girl wasn't there anymore. And suddenly there was a sword sticking out of his chest.

And then Jessop died.

* * *

Celeste withdrew Sunheart from the dead man's chest. Flicking the blood from the blade, she sent it back to her requip space before staggering over to her two fallen friends. "You guys alive?"

"You tell me," Ryusuke panted.

"That's a yes," moaned Rhea. "Just about."

"Where the hell's Aster?" Celeste plonked herself down on her backside.

"Making sure no-one kills your mom in her sleep," replied Rhea.

"Makes sense," said Ryusuke. "He dead?"

"I just stuck a sword through his chest, I frickin' hope so."

"You just killed a guy," stated Ryusuke.

"No shit," Celeste replied.

"Feel good?" he asked. "Do you feel vindicated?"

"Not in the least."

"Good," he said. "You just took a person's life. But you shouldn't feel bad either. You did what you had to."

"I know," she replied. "So, when did Rhea get here?"

"About the point you were about to get your head blown off your shoulders."

She turned to Rhea. "Thanks."

"Think nothing of it," Rhea said.

"The hell?" gasped Ryusuke. "Did you just thank someone sincerely?"

"Yeah. What of it?"

"That's new."

"You callin' me rude?"

"That's exactly what I'm doing."

"You wanna fight?"

"Not really."

She huffed. "Whatever."

"I'm glad you're alive, Celeste," he said, which knocked her for a bit of a loop. Since when was this guy nice to her?

"I'm glad both of you are alive." Rhea smiled sweetly.

"So just to confirm," came a new voice, "you are all alive?"

"No," replied Ryusuke. "This is a pre-recorded message from the corpse of Ryusuke Yugure. Bury him with his coats."

The newcomer gave a chuckle, walking over to the downed trio. "Alive, still an asshole. Who's the dead guy?"

"The last guy to piss me off. How'd you find us?"

"You kidding? All I had to do was follow the spikes of magical energy. You guys were like beacons."

"What are you doing here, Bane?" asked Rhea.

"Some nutty guys attacked the guild hall, I came to check on you guys. You sound exhausted."

"I am."

"We all are," added Ryusuke.

"Then we should probably go to the hospital," sighed Bane.

"This road's actually pretty comfy," Ryusuke said. "Covered in blood, but comfy."

"Stop being a wuss," Rhea smirked.

"I don't see you moving."

"I had a heart attack."

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Bane. "When?"

"Couple days ago." She shrugged dismissively.

"Okay, definitely going to the hospital." He scooped Ryusuke and Rhea up onto his shoulders in two separate fireman's carries before turning to Celeste. "Where is it?"

Even as he spoke, Ryusuke and Rhea simultaneously lost consciousness.

* * *

AN: And thus, Jessop falls, and the fighting part of the arc is over. There's still another chapter to come Tuesday, and then we'll go ahead into the next arc. If you have any ideas for missions, any at all, send them in. Seriously, everyone gets a mission next arc. Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoyed, and if you have a question, comment, criticism, praise or gripe, drop a review. As always, I'll do my best to respond to each and every one! Until next time, folks.


	23. Begin

AN: Pushing forward into the future of the story! This is more of a breather chapter than anything, but it's not useless by any means. I think it's needed after all the chapters we just had of nothing but fighting. Also, the character poll is still up and available until the New Year. There's a deadlock for second place at the minute and it's not attractive, so if you wanna vote, I very much encourage you to do so xD Anyway, on with the chapter.

* * *

**Begin**

"I forgot to rob that guy." Ryusuke stretched, throwing bedcovers from his bruised body.

"You were actually serious?" Celeste asked incredulously.

"Course I was." He stood up, aiming for his shirt. He didn't want to stay in that bed any longer. His chest was bare, giving a full display of his toned, athletic midsection. His abs weren't strictly defined, but hard, densely-packed muscle was still visible, as well as his arms showing not an ounce of fat on them. His chest was neither skinny nor wide, his ribs slightly visible beneath the skin. A stand-out feature, however, was the wide, ragged scar running from right shoulder to left hip. The wound was recent enough that scar tissue was still developing, and that could be seen, the cut looking like a medical disaster area. As he turned, a pair of lateral scars could be seen at the top of his back towards his neck, though these had been a cleaner heal than the diagonal slash that had almost cut him in two. A bandage covered his lower torso, his burns still tender.

"Damn, you look like you had a fight with a blender!" said Celeste.

"I won," replied Ryusuke, throwing on his shirt and buttoning it up, leaving the top two undone. "You don't look much better." Indeed, having changed into a tube top that bared her midriff, Celeste had the entirety of her heavily-bandaged abdomen on show. "I know what's under those bandages."

"Hey, shut up! My wounds aren't gonna leave big ugly scars!"

"I doubt anything could make you any uglier, to be fair." His face was flat and he wore his usual bored expression.

A vein popped out of Celeste's forehead. "What was that, asshole?! Want me to give you another scar?!"

"Whatever. What the hell are you doing in here, anyway?"

"Checking on you. That not allowed now or something?!"

"As you can see, I'm fine. Go back to your mom."

"I've been gone for five minutes, I doubt anything's gonna happen."

And as if on cue: "Celeste, something's happening!" Aster's voice rang out faintly, but it was still audible. Which was weird, she was only across the hall. With haste, both Celeste and Ryusuke made their way across the hall to the origin of the voice.

"Well hey there, sleepyhead," said Bane as the two walked in.

"Hey." Ryusuke plonked himself into a free chair. "What's happening?"

A groan came from the far bed. "What happened to me?"

"Oh. That," said Ryusuke.

"Mom!" Celeste ran to her mother's side, looking at her with a mixture of relief and worry.

"Celeste?"

"Yeah, it's me. You had a heart attack. I thought you were gonna die…"

"Well, I'm still alive." She offered a small smile. "What happened to that girl who attacked the dojo?"

"She died."

"What happened?"

"She gave you a heart attack then keeled over and bought the farm," said Ryusuke.

"So that's synonymous with you cutting her in two now, is it?" Rhea smiled from her bed.

"Oh, Sleeping Beauty awakens. What makes you think I cut her in two?"

"I did see the body, you know."

"You mean the perfectly intact one?"

"I wouldn't call a huge slash across the chest perfectly intact."

"Yet you would call it 'cut in two'." He sighed.

"Closer to being in two pieces than one." She smirked at him.

"Everything was still attached. That's one piece."

"Still far from intact." She winked.

"So, mom," said Celeste, "we found out why all these people were trying to kill us. Apparently your parents were trying to take over Fiore. Did you know anything about it?"

Camille adopted a disgruntled expression before giving a belligerent sigh. "My father was always no good. To put it simply, he was a bastard. This doesn't necessarily surprise me, but I had no idea until you told me. And just who are these people trying to kill you?"

"This guy said he was their leader, he just called them the Organization. I think he was called Jizzop or something…"

"It was Jessop," said Ryusuke.

"He said that your dad sent his plans to you, but he intercepted them or something."

"Good riddance," said Camille, her face dark. "I would have just burned them. What became of this man? I'd very much like to have a _conversation_ with him." Everyone in the room could tell that 'have a conversation' was just code for 'beat the shit out of'.

"Unless you have a key to the afterlife, I doubt that'll happen," said Bane, leaning back in his chair.

Camille sighed. "Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if my father hadn't been the man he was. He even raised me as a boy."

A light flicked on in Celeste's head. "So is that why you're a crossdresser?"

"I am not a crossdresser!"

* * *

Head Captain of the Magic Council's Custody Enforcement Unit, reduced to _courier service_. Surely there were better things he could be doing with his time? I mean, sure, this was important and there was that Kaizu boy at Angel's Breath to consider, what with the bounty that had once been on his head, but did they really have to send him and suspend all of his duties for this? He had criminals to bring to justice, dammit! Yet here he was, the cart making its way through Onibus towards a guild that had almost managed to become as bad as Fairy Tail had once been. Really, those people were a huge nuisance, what with all the brawls they caused. He could not remember ever seeing a mage with that insignia walk into a public place and a fight not breaking out within five minutes. No matter what. Bunch of hoodlums. He looked over to his companion in this journey, a sigh escaping his lips.

The person with him didn't actually have a gender; hell, they technically weren't even human. They had pure white hair, trailing down to their waist in a braid, with a fringe held away from their electric blue eyes with a sapphire brooch. They had almost unnaturally pale skin, with high, aristocratic cheekbones, seeming almost sculpted and unnatural. A long, jagged scar ran down from their left eye past their lips. They were barely five feet tall and slim, wearing a royal blue tunic down to their thighs, leather armour visible on their legs. The person looked to be around seventeen, and considering their origins, perhaps this task was more important than he had first considered it.

"When are we going to get there?" they said, a cold tone piercing through the air.

"Very soon," said Lahar. He hoped that he could be in an out as soon as possible, but he had things to explain and the guild's master would probably bombard him with questions. Oh well.

"Sir, we're here!"

Lahar acknowledged the call and opened the door, stepping off the cart. "This way, Blue."

"Finally," Blue spat.

The person followed Lahar as he made his way to the large double doors of the guild hall. He stopped when he reached them. He should at least knock, he supposed. It wasn't like he was arresting anyone. So he knocked, loudly. The doors swung open for him to come face to face with a man with shoulder length, midnight blue hair tied into a messy ponytail, his fringe falling into his eyes.

"Aw, crap," groaned Cyrus. "What did we do now?"

"Just the usual," said Lahar. "But I'm not here for any of you." He levelled an icy gaze on Cyrus. "I'm here to speak with your master."

Cyrus huffed. "Whatever. Master! The Magic Council's here…"

With a beleaguered sigh, Rosa took Cyrus' place at the door. "What did they do and how much do I have to pay?"

Lahar pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "No-one did anything worth my time. I'm here with a request from the Council."

"Alright," said Rosa. "What is it?"

"May I come in? This could take a while."

"Of course." She stepped aside. "We'll talk in my office."

With a quick walk, the three had reached Rosa's office. "Okay, Lahar, what is it? I can assure you now that Styles hasn't stepped a toe out of line, and if he does I am more than capable of disciplining him myself. You entrusted him to me, so I see no reason for you to-"

"I don't care about him right now." Lahar gave a sigh. "It tells me a lot about your guild that you expect to be in trouble as soon as I knock on your door…"

"All it tells me is that you're just a bunch of uptight blowhards!" Rosa adopted a teasing smirk.

Lahar looked irritated, to say the least. "Why, you…" He regained his composure. "The Council would like to request you take someone in."

Rosa looked over towards Blue. "And that would be you, right?"

"Yeah," said Blue.

"Okay, so tell me your story. Who are you?" She smiled kindly at Blue, at which Blue scoffed.

"I'm not telling you anything."

Rosa frowned. "And why's that?"

Lahar sighed. "Blue isn't exactly the most social of humans. Although calling her… him… whatever, calling Blue a human is a bit of a stretch."

"Don't call me human at all," Blue spat. "Don't lump me in with that species."

"Her… him… whatever?" said Rosa with an amused smile.

"Blue is an artificial human. A homunculus, the final survivor of a long defunct project performed by a man who far overstepped his bounds."

"I assume you've put the man in prison?"

"Actually, he saved us the space. He killed himself giving Blue her magic."

She turned to Blue. "So, you're Blue, hm? What a… colourful name."

Both Blue and Lahar groaned inwardly at the awful pun. "Yes, that's my name, and never make a joke like that again. Who are you?"

"What joke?"

Lahar sighed. "You didn't even realise…"

"Anyway, I'm Rosa Caliburn, the master of this guild. The guild you're about to join, apparently."

"So you'll take her?" said Lahar, looking relieved.

"Of course! I can't turn away a child in need, and Blue looks to be in need of somewhere to call home. How could I say no?"

Lahar sighed in relief. "Alright, but there's some things you need to know."

Blue glared at him. "What gives you the right to tell her of my past?"

"Regardless of your input, I am going to tell her. It all began-"

He grew annoyed upon seeing Rosa's hands upon her ears, and her loudly saying, "la la la la la la la!"

"What are you doing?"

"She said she doesn't want me to know. I don't see a reason to push." She turned to Blue. "So where do you want your guild mark?"

"I give up with you people…" Lahar sighed, opening the door and standing in the threshold. "Unfortunately, I will most likely have to come back at some point. Please keep your guild under at least some semblance of control."

* * *

"I'm going home," said Ryusuke, standing and ready to leave.

"Why?" asked Aster.

"I hate hospitals."

"Isn't all your stuff at the Lohr Dojo?" said Rhea.

"Rhea, pretty much all my clothes are the same. I won't miss a couple of sets. Just bring them back with you."

"But I could develop a complication and die!" She looked at him with a teasing smile.

"I should be so fucking lucky. See ya!" He walked out, his hand raised in a wave.

"Hang on," said Bane. "I'll go with you. Someone needs to keep you on a leash."

"All I do is sit there minding my own business. I'd prefer a wall around me, maybe then people would mind their own business."

"You wouldn't even be here if I'd minded my own business," said Rhea, smirking.

"Don't I freaking know it." He walked out.

"See ya," said Bane.

"What an asshole," said Celeste.

"Yeah," replied Rhea." But he's our asshole."

"Alright, tell me what's wrong with you," said Bane, having to hurry to keep pace.

"Nothing," Ryusuke replied tersely.

"Don't give me that shit. If nothing's wrong, why are you walking like you want to get away from me?"

"I always walk like this. It's a natural thing, it usually means less talking."

"How's that working out?"

"Pretty well, until now."

"I can tell that something's bothering you, and I'm not gonna stop asking. So you may as well tell me and get it over with now."

"Okay, you really wanna know what's bothering me?"

"Yep."

"You're nosey." Ryusuke quickened his pace as he turned a corner, the train station coming into sight.

"You know that stick up your ass?"

"I'm usually aware of it."

"Want me to pull it out?"

"Actually, I've become quite attached to it."

"You feel weak, right? You nearly failed to protect something you love, that right?"

Ryusuke stopped in his tracks, looking down at his feet. "I did fail."

"She's still alive, right?"

"That's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"I was pretty much useless. I couldn't do anything but sit and watch as she was about to die."

"Yet it was your attack that finished the guy off."

He turned and glared at Bane. "You really don't know shit, Bane. I wouldn't have been able to do that if not for Rhea. Ever since I joined this guild and gained people that I want to protect, I've lost every time it's been important. When you and I first met, and you found me bleeding out? That was because I got in a fight, and I lost. When you sent us to go after the Unspoken Treasure, the first time I fought that woman, I gave in to fear and collapsed, even though she and her guild could have gone on to kill everyone else. The second time, she just up and left, even though she practically had me beaten. She could have gone on to kill everyone else, or take the Treasure and set it off. And now? I fought that guy to protect Celeste, and he beat the both of us down, and he would have killed her. I needed Rhea to come and help. I've done nothing but fucking fail and lose, all because I'm too weak to protect anything I hold close."

Bane gave him a sharp glare before punching him in the face, knocking him on his backside. "You can't talk like that. Everyone fails, everyone loses. It's something that happens to everyone. But that doesn't mean that you're too weak to protect the things you love! You're not weak because you have friends to help you!"

"Piss off. I'm sick of being a burden! That's all I am right now. I'm too weak to help anyone, and everyone else has to help me. So leave me the fuck alone."

Even as he began to walk away, Bane grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, refusing to allow him to walk. "You think you're alone in this? It's happened to me before too, so I know exactly how you feel. You really think that? Fine! Believe it, I don't care! But take all that pain, take everything that you feel, and turn it into your passion! Everything you feel can become that, and so make it your resolve! If you think you're too weak, then get stronger! That's all there is to it!"

Ryusuke glared back at him before batting his arm away and resuming walking. He entered the station ahead of Bane, and when the man entered, he couldn't see him anywhere.

* * *

"Alright, let's go before the Magic Council come back," said Cyrus.

"Geez, alright, we're coming…" replied Dean.

* * *

AN: Just a short one this time, but I couldn't think of anything else that really needed to be in here. We're launching into a new arc next chapter, and everyone gets to shine this time! If you have a question, comment, criticism or praise then please leave a review and, as always, I'll do my best to reply! Until next time, folks.


	24. Echoes and Shadows

AN: Happy New Year, readers! And we head forth into a new arc, which will be… significantly lighter than the other two. I think. For reference, the arcs were the Introductions, Unspoken Treasure, Nobility of Nobility and now the Missions arc! Yes, this is just going to be missions. Pretty much all of the new OCs are going to be introduced too, much excite! Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

_There's a voice in the night and your eyes see it all…_

* * *

**Echoes and Shadows**

"Where are we actually going?" asked Florence. She was currently sat on a train across from Dean and Cyrus, but the S-Class mage among them had still yet to impart any information to them on where they were headed.

"Hargeon," he replied. "Read it if you want to." He handed her a slip of paper detailing the mission.

She scanned through the words printed on the paper, her eyes caressing each one. She had to suppress a gasp upon the discovery of the reason for the mission. "Why would they put in a request to us, though? Surely there are guilds closer, and besides, shouldn't they be calling in the Rune Knights for something like this?"

"That's what I thought," said Dean, "but it looks like they'd trust a guild more than the army with this."

Cyrus grunted. "Just what the hell is the problem?" He snatched the paper from Florence before perusing the information. "Holy shit."

"I know," said Dean.

"Don't they have police to deal with that kind of crap?"

Dean gave a heavy sigh. "Look, we're not gonna know anything beyond what's on the paper until we get there, including why they asked for our help instead of their own police, the army, whatever. So stop asking questions, because I don't know the answer."

"I have a question," said Cyrus.

"This better be good."

"Why are you such an asshole?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer." Dean almost growled his sentence.

* * *

"Just what the hell are you doing here?!" Celeste could not believe her eyes. She had only recently got back to Onibus, making her way straight to the guild hall, and she had not expected anything like this. Really, how the hell could she? The presence invading her vision had knocked all the wind out of her, and he was just sat at the bar like absolutely nothing was amiss. And what was Ryusuke doing sat with that bastard? She was shaking; to say she was enraged may just have been an understatement.

Ryusuke looked up to see his volatile teammate and patted the shoulder of his new companion, beginning to walk away. "You're gonna die."

"What?" asked the boy to whom he was talking, before looking up and seeing Celeste. "Oh, right."

"I'll ask you again," she growled, "what the hell are you doing here?"

"What are you talking about?" he said. "I'm a member of this guild." He pulled up his navy blue t-shirt to reveal an Angel's Breath mark on his right hip.

Celeste growled again. "Don't give me that crap!"

"What's going on over here?" Rhea, who had only just entered the guild hall herself, followed the commotion to its source, before recognising the boy and narrowing her eyes, addressing him. "What makes you think you're welcome here?"

"Your Master doesn't seem to have a problem with it." He pointed at the guild mark he sported.

"That doesn't mean that we don't," said Rhea.

"Come on, Rhea," said Ryusuke, walking back over to the scene. "I would've thought that you'd believe in second chances."

"He tried to kill my friends, do you expect me to forgive that?"

"I didn't try to kill anyone," the boy interjected, "I wouldn't ever kill another person if I could help it."

"Then how do you explain working for a dark guild?" asked Celeste, growling.

"They took my sister and I in when no-one else would, we felt that we owed them a debt. One that has since been fulfilled." He added the last part with a tinge of anger.

"So you're saying that you were only with them because you had nowhere else to go?" said Rhea, suspicion still evident in her tone.

"Yes."

"And you don't intend to do any harm to the members of this guild?"

"Not if they don't harm me first."

"Alright," she said, "I guess I'm okay with it."

"What?!" Celeste nearly exploded. "This guy? Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously." Rhea chuckled slightly. "I can tell he's genuine."

The boy flicked a lock of his waist length, electric blue hair from his right eye. "Thank you."

"Well, Ryo," said Ryusuke, "now that that's settled, I suppose you can exist in peace."

"Hell no, it isn't settled!" Celeste's fists were clenched and she looked ready to hit someone at any moment. "What if he's only here to steal the Unspoken Treasure back for his guild?! Did any of you ever consider that?"

"That would be rather pointless," said Ryo, "since this is my guild."

Celeste's anger had almost boiled over. "I'm still not gonna trust you, you hear me! I'll be watching you."

"I wouldn't expect you to."

"Hey," said Rhea, a quizzical expression upon her face, "didn't you have a sister?"

"Yes, but I don't know where she is right now."

"What the?!" The group heard Aster screaming from across the guild hall.

"Well, that answers that," said Rhea, sighing.

* * *

The trio stepped off the train having finally arrived in Hargeon. Florence let out a beleaguered sigh as they set out at a brisk walk, aiming for the mayor's office. Who wouldn't be beleaguered after having to put up with those two idiots for an entire train journey? After walking for a short while, they came upon an official looking, one storey building and, judging it to be their destination, entered.

Inside the door was a small foyer, surrounded by glass walls, with a red carpet and a transparent glass door directly in front of them. Without pause, they strode onwards straight through the glass door and into the main reception area. The carpet was the same red as in the foyer, with the walls decorated by white paper, with large paintings and photographs hanging about the room, some being of the city of Hargeon itself, either in the past or the present, and the room itself was relatively large, with a few people stood around talking. The three walked up to a large oaken reception desk in the back left corner of the room, which was staffed by a woman in her late forties. Dean wordlessly planted the request paper on the desk, looking expectantly at the receptionist. She took a cursory glance at the sheet of paper, instantly recognising the content, and raised her head to speak.

"Down the hallway, the door at the end. The mayor is expecting you."

"Thanks," said Dean, about turning and walking along the back wall until he came to a hallway cutting through the centre of the building, beckoning the others to follow as he began striding down. The hallway wasn't as long as one would expect, and so it wasn't long before the three reached the end, Dean knocking on the painted white door in front of him.

"Come in," came the muffled call from within the room. They heeded the call and entered, assembling in a line in front of a hardwood desk, varnished to a glossy sheen. The walls inside were white, much like the rest of the building, with a couple of paintings of the city hung on them. There was a large bay window in the centre of the rear wall, behind the desk, curtained with a set of cream blinds, which were currently open. Behind the desk sat a middle-aged man dressed in a sharp business suit, tight enough to show his deteriorating figure. His thin hair was greying at the temples, and looked almost non-existent atop the man's scalp.

"Good afternoon," he said. "I am Woodrose, the mayor of this city. I assume that you are mages answering my request?"

"Yeah," said Dean. "And I've got a question."

"Please, go ahead." Woodrose smoothed out his tie.

"Why the hell did you call us rather than the Rune Knights? Or just your own police?"

Woodrose gave a heavy sigh. "If the city's police force could deal with this, I wouldn't have called you. As for the Magic Council and their Rune Knights, they were the first I called when the problem began getting out of hand. But their investigation produced nothing, and once the Council were in the city, the problem seemed to stop. However, upon their leaving, everything began anew. I've reached the end of my tether with this, and mage guilds were my final option."

"Understandable," said Dean. "So what exactly is the problem? We have an idea, but I'd like to hear the details."

"It started a couple of months ago. A teenager disappeared in the night. His parents were hysterical, and searches were conducted, but no trace of the boy could be found. At first we thought that perhaps he had run away, but three more went missing in a short span of time not long afterwards, and it was then clear that there was some connection. We searched again, but nothing. Until a week later. We found one of them, a thirteen year old girl, dead in an alleyway. There were no substantial wounds on her body, only pinpricks and track marks along her arms and legs. We performed an autopsy, but no concrete cause of death could be discerned. All we could tell is that magic had some involvement in her death, due to magical residue all around her body. That was when I called in the Magic Council, but like I said, they found nothing. So they left, and it all started again. We've since had thirteen people abducted, six of whom turned up dead like the first girl. The same track marks, and the same residue of magic. The only thing they have in common is that they're all under the age of twenty. None of them have any re-occurring health problems either, and nothing else connects them." Sorrow was evident on the man's face as he fondled the silver frame of a picture sat on his desk. Florence angled her head to see the contents of the picture, seeing a slightly younger Woodrose stood with a beautiful young girl who matched his height, her brown hair shining with an iridescent sheen.

"Is that your daughter?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied, his voice betraying his sadness.

"Was she taken too?"

"She was." He sighed. "She was the last to disappear. I woke up one morning and she was gone, no trace of her remaining. She was such a bright girl, and so talented as well…"

"We'll find her," said Cyrus, his expression determined. "Her and all the rest of the missing people. We'll find them, and kick the ass of whoever took them. You can count on that."

"Thank you, mages of Angel's Breath. It pains me so, she had only just returned home after six months away, and so many other people have lost their children." He slammed his fist on his desk. "I have failed in my duty to protect the residents of this city!"

"You're doing the best you can," said Florence softly.

"Just leave it to us," added Dean. "We've got it now."

"I cannot thank you enough!" Woodrose said. "But I would like to request that, if possible, you bring back the perpetrators alive so they can be turned over to the government or the Magic Council."

"We'll do our best," said Dean, turning round to leave the room. "We'll be back, and we'll have the bastards who did this with us."

* * *

"Seems decent enough." Florence looked about herself, at the reception area of the inn in which they currently stood. They had already rented out three rooms for the night, which they had yet to see, but if they were like the rest of the place then they probably wouldn't be bad. The reception was sparsely decorated, the walls painted a pragmatic grey, the wooden desk scratched and worn from use. There was a door on each side of the desk, one leading to a bar, and the other presumably leading upstairs to the rooms. Dean doled out a key to both Florence and Cyrus, retaining one for himself.

"You sure it isn't too plain for your majesty?" said Cyrus.

"Go to hell, Cyrus," Florence growled in reply.

Dean ignored this exchange as he began speaking. "Alright, we'll split up and ask around, try to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. I'll go and talk to the police, you guys search the city for any information. Meet back here at around nine and debrief, okay?"

"What do we do if we see anything suspicious?" asked Cyrus.

Dean gave an aggravated sigh. "Obviously I want you to pay it absolutely no mind, completely forget about it and not pursue it in any way."

"Really?"

"No, you damn idiot! Pursue it!"

Florence, meanwhile, could only sigh.

* * *

Words were unable to describe just exactly how much Blue didn't want to be where Blue was right now. A mage guild? Preposterous. And just why, oh why, would Blue want to be surrounded by damn humans? The scourge of the planet, and Blue just happened to be sitting in a room full of them. Playing their jokes on each other, with their friendship and camaraderie. It was all absolutely ridiculous. As far as Blue was concerned, the human race was absolute trash. Nothing. Just a stain on the face of the planet, committing sin after sin with no remorse. Blue guessed that there were some exceptions, such as the Master of the guild, who she had come to see as being a sweet and kind-hearted woman, but the same could not be said for the majority of the species. However, Blue did have to do something with their life, and since they could use magic, they may as well perform missions and earn money from that. Maybe Blue would be able to find vindication in destroying some of the evil that was humanity, but they couldn't exactly be sure if that would be the case. Blue had, after all, never tried anything like that before. However, Blue guessed that they may as well take some kind of mission, not least to alleviate the boredom that appeared to be setting in having been sat around since they joined the guild. Blue stood and walked over to the request board, scanning all the pieces of paper for their content. Seeing one they liked, Blue went to grab it, but upon their hand touching the request, a gloved hand with spikes protruding from the knuckles simultaneously tried grabbing the slender sheet.

"I'm afraid that this will be my mission." Blue's voice was cold, almost like a freezing wind would hit the ears of whoever heard them.

"Not a chance. No human is gonna steal my mission." The voice that spoke to Blue was emotionless, and Blue turned to see the masked face of Styles Kaizu gazing straight at them, his eyes devoid of any emotion whatsoever.

A cruel smirk appeared on Blue's face. "I'd like to see you try to take it from me."

"You're about to," said Styles, as Nina appeared alongside him, growling at Blue, whose eyes instantly lit up upon seeing the large wolf.

"Aren't you a beautiful creature?" Blue addressed Nina, her voice now warm and soft. Blue stuck out a hand for Nina to smell, which the wolf did, curiosity and suspicion evident in her eyes. After a cursory sniff, she took to a deeper examination of Blue's scent, before giving an accepting whine and turning to face Styles as Blue began scratching behind her ears.

After a few seconds, Styles spoke. "Apparently you're 'not quite human'."

Blue tensed up slightly. "Where did you get that from?" Her tone was sharp and biting.

"Nina told me."

"And just who is Nina?"

He nodded over to the wolf at his side.

"The wolf told you? Really?"

"Yeah."

"And how does that work?"

"Nina and I share a deep connection. We can talk to each other."

Blue glared at Nina briefly before switching their gaze over to Styles, who still looked completely indifferent on the matter. "I'm a homunculus. An artificial human."

Styles continued to level a flat gaze on Blue. "Okay, so you're not human. Doesn't mean you're taking this mission from me."

"Now, now, children!" came Rosa's voice from behind the two, "if you both want the mission, then why not go together?"

"I don't work with strange humans," said Styles.

"But Blue isn't human, as you just found out." Rosa smiled widely at the two mages.

Styles sighed. "Fine." He turned to Blue once more. "Just don't get in my way."

"As long as you don't get in mine," Blue sneered.

Rosa sighed. _I suppose this is the best I'm going to get_.

* * *

She felt danger. Her eyes snapped open. After a day yielding no leads whatsoever, Florence had been hoping for a nice, peaceful sleep. It seemed that this was not to be. Here eyes locked onto a man garbed entirely in black, a cloak trailing behind him and a mask covering his face. In his right hand was a syringe filled with a clear liquid, and it was held close to her neck. She instantly sprung into action, throwing the covers of the bed over the man. With her assailant temporarily blinded, she launched a fierce kick into his kidney, causing him to lurch back, the bedcovers falling from him. She didn't let up, kicking him again, although not as hard as she would like given that she was wearing slippers.

He launched himself at her, the syringe in his hand held like a weapon. She danced to the side, causing him to stumble over the space she had just occupied. Swinging her foot, she took his legs out from under him, causing his face to plant on the floor.

"Who the hell are you, and what do you think you're doing?"

Rather than answer, the attacker turned tail and jumped from the open window into the streets below, sinking into the darkness of the midnight hour even as Florence ran over to check his whereabouts. When she looked, he was nowhere to be seen. Her attacker had melted into the shadows. Echoes of his attack reverberated through her mind, and something clicked as the adrenaline began to vacate her bloodstream. She had just encountered one of the perpetrators of the very actions they were in Hargeon to snuff out.

And she had let him get away.

Oh, crap.

The door burst open, Cyrus and Dean running into the room. They looked around to see only Florence at the open window, now looking back at them, and the disturbed room.

"What the hell happened?" Dean panted. "We heard a commotion."

"You know how the mayor said that people were being abducted in the night? That was about to be me."

"Holy crap," said Cyrus. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Bastard got away though."

"That doesn't really matter as long as you're alright," replied Cyrus.

"This shit just got real. I'm gonna beat these assholes into the ground," said Dean.

"You're not the only one," added Cyrus.

"Get in line." Florence growled. Dean was right, shit had just got real. And she would make damn sure that those bastards would pay for what they just tried to do to her, and what they'd done to the innocent people of the city.

She wasn't going to rest until those bastards paid for what they'd done.

* * *

AN: An action-light chapter, but that doesn't make it relaxing by any means xD A lot of set-up in this chapter, but overall, I'm actually pleased with how it turned out. Dear lord, Blue is hard to write. Not because of the personality, but the sheer irritation of using pronouns for a genderless character. I love the character, I really do, but damn, I keep using female pronouns without thinking, for whatever reason. Anyway, if you've stuck with me this long, here are the results of the first character poll! I was gonna put it at the start, but then I realised that the people who couldn't give a shit would have to scroll past it and it would be almost as annoying as review responses at the beginning of a chapter. Anyway, Angel's Breath's top 10 characters, as voted for by you:

1st – Ryusuke Yugure (7 votes)

2nd – Rhea Yokoshima (5 votes)

2nd – Celeste Arturia (5 votes)

2nd – Dean Arc (5 votes)

2nd – Bane Claec (5 votes)

2nd – Wisteria Solari (5 votes)

7th – Aster Eistir (4 votes)

7th – Rosa Caliburn (4 votes)

7th – Lucina Cypher (4 votes)

10th – Cyrus Angelos (3 votes)

And there you go! As always, if you have a question, criticism, comment or praise, then just drop a review and I'll do my best to get back to you! Until next time, folks.


	25. Deliver Us From Evil

AN: Wow, Fairy Tail has seriously gotten good. Shit's getting real, plot is getting thick, and Gajeel tho! Also, I'd like to apologise for my extended absence. I've been ridiculously unmotivated the last couple of months and neglected both my stories, but that stops here! Anyway, believe it or not, this arc is actually going somewhere, story-wise. I'm not a huge fan of episodic structure (despite my intense love of Darker Than Black), I don't see a point in writing something if it doesn't tie in with the main plot in some small way. Like One Piece. Oda NEVER forgets, and neither do I. So let's get on with the chapter before I start to ramble. Enjoy.

* * *

_Deliver us from evil, straying out of sanity…_

* * *

**Deliver Us From Evil**

"Celeste!" The girl in question looked up from her seat near the bar to see a very angry looking Aster striding towards her, quite literally with egg on her face. She couldn't help but laugh. "Laugh now, you won't be laughing in a minute!"

Wiping a tear from her eye, Celeste managed to breathe for long enough to speak. "As funny as that is, it wasn't me."

"Yeah, then who the hell was it? The cat?!" Aster gestured to May, who simple mewled as she walked past, and if cats could smirk, it appeared as if she would be doing so.

"Maybe. How am I supposed to know?"

"Because you did it!"

This visibly angered Celeste. "Look, I don't care if you accuse me of something I actually did, but don't try to tell me I did something I didn't do! I am not a liar!"

"Who else would pull shit like this?"

"I don't know, maybe someone's trying to set me up!"

"Yeah, that's likely!"

Celeste stood, butting her forehead into Aster's, her responding with equal force. "You wanna take me on, asshole?"

"What, you got a death wish?"

Sparks continued to fly until an arm pushed Aster gently away. She turned abruptly to see Ryusuke.

"Sorry," he said, "but Celeste has an alibi. I started making a habit of keeping tabs on her after she made Rhea nearly string me up by the dick."

"I keep telling you, that wasn't me!"

"Probably the cat then," Ryusuke muttered, "hate that fucking cat."

Aster rubbed her forehead with his hand, before levelling a bemused gaze on Ryusuke. "You're trying to tell me that a cat set up a miniature trebuchet operated by a tripwire?"

Celeste burst into laughter again. "Holy crap, you've gone insane!"

Ryusuke sighed. "Say what you will, that cat is a menace."

"That cat has a name," said Puzzlebox, passing by and picking May up to her breast, "and she's just a cat. If you think she can pull pranks on people, you're out of your fucking mind." She flashed a sharp-toothed grin before turning on her heel and leaving.

"Just a cat, huh," said Ryusuke, skulking towards the door leading upstairs. He had reading to do. Meanwhile, Celeste and Aster just shared a look, shrugged, and went back to their business.

* * *

Aster looked at the girl sat across from her, desperately searching for some way to break the awkward silence that had settled between the two. "Uh… sorry about the whole foot thing."

Cali looked up and gave a thin, humourless smile. "Don't be. It was my fault, technically."

"And the wish vision thing."

"It's fine."

The awkward silence returned. After a couple of minutes, Aster tried to break the silence again. "So, uh… how'd you fix it?"

"I didn't. I have a metal foot."

"Oh."

Silence settled again, and some distance away, a watching Ryo sighed. "Well, this was a wonderful idea."

"Hey, I thought it'd work!" said Rhea.

"Somehow, I don't think it did. Doesn't look like they're going to be friends."

Rhea scowled. "No need to rub it in."

However, as usually happens when an observer looks away, even for a second, strange things happened. That strange thing being the beginning of an animated and friendly conversation. When he turned, Ryo was, understandably, dumbfounded, whilst Rhea simply looked smug.

"My plans never fail. And now that everyone's friends, no more fighting!"

Ryo gave her a quizzical look. "No more fighting? Someone just got tackled."

Rhea turned, and found Ryo to be telling the truth. Ryusuke had emerged from upstairs, most likely to gather alcohol, she thought, and walked straight into a tackle from Puzzlebox, who was currently pummelling him and shouting very loudly.

"This! Is! For! My! Fucking! Cat!" Each word was punctuated by a punch to Ryusuke's cheek, and once Puzzlebox had finished her sentence, Ryusuke threw her off and glared as he got back to his feet.

"What about your cat?"

"Don't play dumb, you were harassing her!"

"And how do you know that? Obviously you didn't see it, did she tell you?" The two glared daggers at each other from across the room before the tension was permeated by an obnoxious shout.

"Hey!" Celeste grinned as she sidled up to the scene. "Did you think you were gonna start a fight without me?"

Ryusuke and Puzzlebox nodded at each other before simultaneously decking Celeste, eliciting a growl from the girl as she got back to her feet.

"That's it, you're both dead…"

And thus, chaos evolved.

Soon enough, the entire guild hall was involved in an all-out brawl, apart from Rhea and Ryo, who remained in their previous position.

"Is it always like this?" asked Ryo.

"Often enough." Rhea grinned. She loved watching chaos evolve, especially when she didn't have to go to the effort of inciting it. She got to enjoy the scene, and was absolved of all blame. It was a really sweet deal.

Ryo leaned back on his stool to dodge a chair, which shattered as it landed on the floor some distance away. "Wonderful."

"Dammit, don't break the furniture!"

"That was meant for you!"

"Would you all STOP DESTROYING MY GUILD HALL?!" Everyone froze, some in mid-strike. This familiar shout announced the entrance of Rosa, who was stood in the interior doorway glaring the twisted mass of bodies that was the majority of her guild. As she took a breath to begin admonishing them, however, the front doors boomed open, revealing a man, probably nineteen, slouching over, looking breathless and ragged.

* * *

Silence. It had settled like a blanket. Not a particularly comfortable one, either. It was full of tension, pointed looks and general awkwardness, the only noise being the clattering of wheels on rails. Kimi sighed. It was obvious Blue and Styles didn't like each other, but they were acting like they were mortal enemies forced to team up. It was ridiculous. Blue wasn't even human, according to what she had been told, so it wasn't like Styles had any reason to dislike the homunculus, but nevertheless, he seemed to. Still, they had to work together, so it would surely be logical to at least try to get along, but neither Styles nor Blue seemed interested in that fact. Kimi, in an attempt to break the silence, decided to ask a question.

"So, Blue, how'd you get that scar on your face?"

Blue gave her a cold look. "I got cut, obviously. Stop asking."

"Don't talk to Kimi like that," said Styles, his voice and face remaining blank and emotionless.

"Or what?" Blue sneered.

Just then, Nina came padding along the aisle to where the trio sat, leaping up into the only available seat. This seat, however, was next to Blue, whose face lit up as soon as the wolf leapt up next to her.

"You're so beautiful," said Blue, cooing. They buried their face in Nina's fur and began emphatically stroking her. Nina gave a small whine and nuzzled Blue before looking over at Styles.

"She likes you," he said after a small pause.

"The feeling is mutual," said Blue, still stroking Nina affectionately.

Gazing intently at the scene unfolding in front of him, Styles released a small sigh before levelling a gaze solely on Blue. "I never introduced myself properly. I'm Styles Kaizu, my sister's name is Kimi. Pleased to meet you."

"Uh, what?" said Blue, clearly dumbfounded.

"I'm pleased to meet you too," said Kimi.

"Whatever." Blue huffed before returning to showering love onto Nina. Nina, however, wasn't pleased, and nipped lightly at Blue's arm before nudging her head towards Styles.

Blue paused. "I see, so he's your friend and I should be nice?" Nina nodded in response, her tail wagging, and so Blue turned to Kimi and Styles. "I'm Blue. Pleased to meet you too." Blue's sincerity was entirely unconvincing, but everyone supposed it was the best they were going to get.

* * *

"Explain to me what we're supposed to be doing again?"

Dean sighed. "Looking for clues." He, along with Florence and Cyrus, was currently sat in a booth in Hargeon's 8-Island restaurant, discussing their mission over the remnants of breakfast.

"Then shouldn't we have a van and a talking dog?" asked Cyrus, idly munching on the crust of a piece of toast.

Dean growled. "Shut the hell up. It's the middle of the day, so it should be safe to split up, but be careful. Sailors are starting to be afraid to dock here, thinking they could be next. Can't afford to get lost in la-la land and taken away for whatever the hell it is these people do to their victims."

"We know, Dean," said Florence, a determined expression upon her face. "We're not gonna get taken. If I find these bastards, I'm getting some payback for them trying to take me! I'm the goddamn Lightning Queen, not somebody's victim!"

Cyrus gave a light cough. "Now that you're done ranting, Queenie, should we get on with it?"

"Hold on," said Dean. "I found something last night." He produced a torn scrap of paper, flinging it across the table. "The guy who tried to abduct our _queen_ last night must have dropped it or something."

Florence picked it up, glaring at Dean as she did so and holding it up for Cyrus to see.

_Ng  
Thy  
C_

Both mages looked puzzled. "The hell's that mean?" said Cyrus.

"Some kind of code?" Florence mused.

"Hell if I know," said Dean, shrugging. "Might not mean anything, but it's all we've got."

"So the only lead we have is a tiny bit of writing we can't even understand?" asked Cyrus, giving an aggravated sigh.

"Yup."

"Dammit, that's nearly as useless as Florence." Cyrus was ready to leave on that, but a vice-like grip on his arm prevented him from even standing up.

"What did you just say?" Florence's voice was almost serene, but the vein threatening to explode out of her forehead betrayed her true feelings on the matter. Not that Cyrus could have thought any differently, with her grip seeming like it was trying, and about to succeed in, breaking his arm.

The intelligent thing to do would be to apologise and walk away. However, Cyrus' interest in doing the intelligent thing was tantamount to none. "It's nearly as useless as you, but not quite. It takes a large lack of use to anyone to get on your level."

Florence let go of his arm and stood over him, finally allowing herself to explode. "The hell is your problem, asshole?! Do you even know what you're saying to people?! God, you're too much of a bastard to even talk to sometimes, you know that? It's like you've got moths flying around in that empty head of yours!"

Cyrus thumbed his nose. "Heh, thanks, guess I am a bastard. But I'll be honest, moths has to be better than delusions of being some kinda royalty. I mean, that's just plain egomania, Queenie."

Florence merely growled. "Really? You're _thanking _me? Remind me why we're friends again?"

"Obviously you can't get enough of my irresistible charm."

"Alright, that's it, idiot!" Florence raised her arm, poised to strike, but was interrupted by a cough from a tiny man.

"I'd thank you not to fight in my restaurant, please," said Yajima.

"Sorry about those two, Mr. Yajima," said Dean, giving a sigh and throwing money onto the table. "They don't understand how to communicate with each other if it isn't in the form of an argument."

Yajima chuckled. "It's okay, I've seen my share of warring couples in my time."

Florence and Cyrus both looked at the old man, aghast. Then, simultaneously, they roared, "WE ARE NOT A COUPLE!"

* * *

"Someone's gonna die a thousand deaths." Styles' face was a mask of pure, unadulterated rage.

"I agree," said Blue, their voice cold. "I can't stand when humans think they have the right to end others' lives like this. But given this town and the dirt that inhabit it, it seems like karma." A cruel smirk twisted onto Blue's face.

"I meant this town," said Styles. "Look at these animals, caged. They should be able to roam free like the beautiful fucking creatures they are. I won't stand for this."

"Styles, you can't kill our employers." Kimi looked over at the livestock, indeed held in place by a wooden fence. "And you can't hurt them until we finish the job and collect the reward."

"I don't care about the reward anymore, I want blood."

Nina whined and nuzzled Styles, Blue levelling a gaze on the man. "I came here to get paid and destroy some pieces of shit. But if you destroy these pieces of shit, I won't get paid. So I won't let you, at least not until after the money's in our hands."

Styles' glare alternated between Kimi and Blue before he sighed, his face returning to its usual blank state. "Fine, but I'm having a discussion with the mayor when we're done."

"Okay, good," said Kimi, "so we know that people have killed their… _livestock_," she spat the last word, "and kidnapped citizens, so we've got to stop the people responsible and get the hostages back. Any ideas?"

"Find them, kill the humans, come back, get the money, kill the humans, go home," said Styles.

Kimi sighed. "Not helpful."

"They come at night, don't they?" said Blue. "So maybe we wait and watch, then when they come, force them to tell us where their hideout is, then we can kill them."

"That sounds good. We should sleep then," said Styles, walking off towards a small inn.

* * *

"Dear god, what happened to you?"

The boy tried to smile, but failed, only managing to force his lips into a thin line. "Running. Just running. I was running for days."

He was tall, and his hair was a greenish brown, messy and wavy, almost as if he had just gotten out of bed. His eyes were blue on the outside and green on the inside, the colours merging to give his irises a dichromatic look. He wasn't skinny, but he wasn't muscled either, instead lying somewhere in-between. He wore a black leather jacket covered in pockets and zippers on top of a tattered, dirty V-neck t-shirt, the colour of which was indiscernible over the grime and dirt. His dark jeans were torn and almost hanging from his black belt alone, and his feet were clothed by flip-flops.

Rosa approached him, offering her shoulder for support. "What's your name?"

"Ryder Wentens."

"Would you like to come in? We have an infirmary, and I'm sure I can find you some clean clothes."

"Thank you," said Ryder, giving a relieved sigh. Rosa began leading him towards the stairs, turning and levelling a gaze on the still tangled mass of bodies on the floor.

"I'll deal with you idiots later," she said, before closing the door on them and leading Ryder away.

"Am I the only one who doesn't want to be here for that?" said Ryusuke, his voice flat.

"I vote we all run away," said Eiko, sprinting out of the door and away from the guild hall.

Ryusuke sighed. "Does he even know what's going on or does he just want to run?"

"I dunno, but this looks serious. The hell's that guy's story, anyway?" said Celeste, picking herself up, delivering a swift kick to Ryusuke's ribs for good measure.

He stood up, a long-suffering expression on his face. "How should I know?"

"Aren't you supposed to be clever?"

"That doesn't mean I can tell what happened to the guy just by looking at him, idiot. He said he was running, so I guess he had to run."

"What'd you just call me?" Celeste growled.

Ryusuke sighed. "I know where this is going, and I'd advise against it, since the master's gonna come back in soon enough."

Celeste huffed and turned away. "Stop spoiling my fun."

"Since your idea of fun involves stopping me minding my own business, I will continue to spoil your fun until the end of time."

A couple of hours later, order had returned to the best of its ability, but given the members of the guild, it was hard pressed to gain complete control over the room. Aster was still enthusiastically attempting to get people to play baseball, Rhea was still annoying Ryusuke, Nui was still rambling about nothing in particular to Viktor and Bane was still drinking enough to kill an ordinary man. In short, things were proceeding as normal, with no real talk of the man who had crossed the threshold not two hours before, looking as if he were on the brink of death.

"C'mon, Ryu-kun, will you not even consider it?" said Rhea, wearing a teasing smirk, her eyes glinting with hidden mischief.

"No."

"I promise you won't regret it."

"I'm regretting this conversation."

Rhea frowned, giving him her best hurt look. "That isn't very nice."

Ryusuke almost instantly looked away, trying very hard to look at anything but Rhea's face and her doe-eyed pout.

"I wouldn't regret it if you weren't so determined to make me do this."

"But it'll be fun!"

"For you, maybe."

"Come on, I swear-"

"No."

"Alright, you made me do this. Look at me." He did as she told, and she flashed him a brilliant smile that made his heart skip a beat. She smiled. He melted. In that moment, he was completely and utterly powerless to resist her in any way. It was as if she had sapped all of his will from him with a single, beautiful smile.

Thankfully, before he could agree to endure whatever torment she had planned, a door opened, and Ryder strode in, now cleaned up and wearing new jeans and a new green t-shirt. He was accompanied by Rosa, who cleared her throat to gather the attention of the assembled guild.

"Everyone, this is Ryder, your newest guildmate. Celeste, no starting fights. Everyone else, be nice." With this, she smiled before promptly turning on her heel and leaving.

Ryusuke, meanwhile, turned back to Rhea, an idea in his mind. _There is a god!_ "You know, that's a good idea. I think I'll go be nice." Ryusuke stood up and walked away before Rhea could even respond.

She quickly caught up, however. "Someone needs to keep you on a leash, King Sarcasm."

"I bow to your wisdom, Queen Sadist."

She smirked. "And why am I Queen Sadist?"

"There seems to be nothing you enjoy more than my displeasure."

"Maybe I just want to have fun with you? That's what friends do, right?"

"Yes, but the point is that both people have fun."

She pouted. "Not my fault you're a killjoy."

"It is and you know it."

As they had talked, they had come to stop in front of a now seated Ryder, who was staring at them like they were the most natural occurrence in the world. In fact, he looked bored. "Are you two gonna keep arguing? I assume you want something."

It took a moment before Ryusuke realised he actually had to say something rather than simply walking away. "Welcome to the guild, Ryder. I'm Ryusuke. I was told to be nice so nice I shall be, just don't ever disturb me while I'm reading, eating, drinking, sleeping or breathing. And never call me by the contemptible name some people seem to think is okay."

Ryder gave him a queer look before shrugging. "Alright then. Who's your girlfriend?"

Rhea beamed at him. "I'm Rhea Yokoshima, and ignore Ryu-kun. He's just a grouch, but he's nice when you get to know him."

"Yay." Ryusuke sighed. This hadn't been his best idea. He was regretting it already. Better than the alternative, he supposed.

"Ryder. Thanks for the welcome, I guess."

"If you don't mind me asking," said Rhea, "what happened to you before you stumbled in?"

"I do mind," said Ryder, taking a lick of a lollipop, "and why do you care?"

"That mark on your body," said Ryusuke, "means that you're a part of our family. And we fight to the death for our family."

Ryder's expression became almost pained before he responded. "Alright then, I guess I already told the master the story, I can tell you. Where I lived, magic was forbidden. I lived a pretty normal life, went to school, messed around with my friends, but my mom trained me in secret. Said she wanted me to be able to defend myself, and the town if there was trouble. Apparently there's a lot of trouble around, but I never knew that, in my quaint little hometown. A few days ago, we got found out, so we had to run. We ran, but mom fell and sprained her ankle. I didn't want to leave her, but the police came and she made me. 'Better you get away and they catch me than they get both of us', she said. So I ran for days, and your guild was the first door I opened. Well, there was a house, but that guy chased me away with a sword."

Ryusuke stiffened hearing the tale. "You lost your mother?"

"I don't know," said Ryder, a sad smile on his face, "I don't even know if she's alive right now."

"Then what the hell are you still doing here?" asked Ryusuke, glaring pointedly at Ryder.

"You expect me to go back there? Do you have any idea what this feels like?"

"Yes, I do. And if I had the chance to save them, there is no point in my life where I would hesitate to rush straight there. If your mom might still be alive, you don't have a choice. You have to at least find out."

"If I went, they'd kill me before I even got in the town. They know I'm a mage now."

"They don't know me, though, do they?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's obvious you want to go save your mom, so I'll help you." Ryusuke stood, ready to leave. "Rhea, I'll do it when I get back."

Rhea smirked. "I'll hold you to that." Her expression grew serious. "But I'm coming too. I know that feeling all too well, and it nearly killed me."

Ryusuke merely looked at Ryder, who shrugged, taking another lick of his lollipop. "Yeah, sure."

"I'm sorry," came a voice from a nearby table, "I couldn't help but overhear." The three turned to see Ryo walking over to them. "I know what it's like to lose a mother, so I'd like to accompany you as well."

Ryder nodded, and Ryusuke sighed. "That's enough now, stealth might be important. Oh, and Ryder?"

"Yeah?"

"Rhea's not my girlfriend."

* * *

AN: Holy shit, that was exhausting. Still, I got it done. Didn't come as naturally as it used to, I guess I'm a bit rusty. Anyway, good, bad, average? Your feedback helps me to improve! I will, as always, try my best to respond to every review. Thought, praise, criticism or comment, just shove it a review and I'll be back to you. Anyway, thank you guys for sticking with me during this long-ass hiatus. As a reward you saw the plot building up and the 2nd of the new OCs! Anyway, hope you enjoyed, until next time, folks.


	26. Shock Shock

AN: So yeah, I have a lot of ground to make up. Another chapter for you, and not much to say here, so I'll just get on with it.

* * *

_I applaud your violence._

* * *

**Shock Shock**

The night. A blanket of darkness covering the midnight hour. A time for strange things, to be sure. Strange and wondrous creatures would emerge to hunt their prey, tracking them down under cover of the inky sky, the only light to betray them being the light of the stars and moon. At this time, when any sane human being would be sleeping, anything could happen. Anything at all. Of course, equally, anything might also not happen, which was currently the fact frustrating a group of hunters lying in wait to ambush their prey.

"I really wish they'd hurry up," said Styles, stifling a yawn.

"Getting bored?" sneered Blue.

"I just want to kill some of these humans already," he replied, his voice blank.

"We can't do anything until they get here, so you'll have to wait," said Kimi.

Styles returned to dark fantasies of blood and murder as silence again settled on the group. Unlike during the day, however, this silence was not awkward. It was tense, but for entirely different reasons. Anticipation. All three mages were anticipating battle, preparing and steeling themselves for what could be a difficult fight as equally as it could be as easy as stomping an ant. Indeed, things were tense, through not just anticipation, since the three individuals gathered would not have felt as tense as they did through anticipation alone. Rather, the majority of the tension was spawned of anger. Anger coursed through each of their veins, a rage as white-hot as the sun itself, ready to be unleashed upon the poor, hapless humans who had taken it on themselves to kill defenceless animals. Sacred constructs of nature, each as unique as any individual snowflake, snuffed out simply as a tool in what appeared to be a war on other human beings. A despicable act, to be sure, and far more worthy of death than whatever the cattle had done to deserve it.

"I see someone," said Styles, his voice hushed to a whisper. Indeed, Blue and Kimi peered around the wall they were currently stood behind and saw six men garbed entirely in black, with none of their skin showing aside from their eyes and surrounding areas. It was as if these men were trying to be ninjas, skulking in the dark dressed for camouflage against the lightless backdrop. They were moving as silently as possible, and they appeared to be stealthy, so that was silent movement indeed. Still, they had been noticed, and the three hunters were not about to allow them to escape their sight.

As silently as the would-be ninjas, Blue, Styles and Kimi set out to follow their targets before they were out of sight. Styles and Kimi moved together with practiced ease, running through back alleys and almost predicting each other's movements. Blue, however, did not have the advantage of being related to the one leading the pack, so lagged behind slightly lest they take a wrong turn and end up alerting their quarry of their presence.

After a time, the ninjas had led them away from the town's gates they had bypassed so easily time and time again, and split up into groups of two. One pair headed towards the cattle pens and farmland, instantly drawing Styles like iron to a magnet. He rushed after them, quickly leaving the sight of Kimi and Blue. Another pair seemed to be heading into a house, and Kimi, being the only one there with any real human compassion, rushed after them, leaving Blue with the pair who appeared to have no specific direction. With all others out of sight, Blue popped out to greet them.

"Hello there, filth."

"Who the hell is she?" said one of the ninjas.

"Doesn't matter," said his partner, pulling two daggers from sheaths hidden in his belt, "just kill her."

Blue gave a cruel smirk, holding a hand out towards the ninja pair. "Aetherial Kinesis."

Blue's opponents baulked as pure eternano seemed to swirl around their body. Blue looked to be trapped within a tornado of pure magic energy, but this was far from the case. Indeed, in the blink of an eye, Blue's predicament was revealed as an advantage when the magic energy condensed into a hail of spears, which were quickly launched at the two helpless men. They attempted to flip away, but no agility could save them from the rain. Both were skewered several times, blood flying from each wound as they fell to the floor, but lifeless corpses swallowed by the night.

"Oh dear," said Kimi, her eyes narrowed to slits, "I hope you weren't planning on breaking into that house?"

The two men she had followed slowly turned away from their work on the lock, wordlessly rushing at Kimi, swords in hand. Rather than resort to her summons, she instead drew two katanas from sheaths at her hip, one black handled, one purple handled. She blocked both strikes simultaneously, disarming her opponents with a flick of her wrists. One foolishly tried to kick at Kimi, and lost a leg for his trouble. He fell to his back, blood spurting from the wound as Kimi skewered the other ninja, his body sliding along her sword to the hilt, his body held in the air like a ninja kebab.

"Why hello there, gentlemen," said Styles politely, "what's your business this fine evening?"

"Who the hell are you supposed to be, the grim reaper?" One of the ninjas pointed at the scythe attached the Styles' back.

"I may as well be," he said, "since I'm about to reap you. You weren't planning on slaughtering any of those defenceless animals, were you?"

"And so what if we were?"

"I just need to decide how much you're going to suffer, is all." Under his bandana, Styles wore a psychotic grin as he charged at the man he had conversed with. His opponent drew a blade, slashing at Styles, who merely ducked underneath it and pulled back his spiked fist.

"I think the corpse look would suit you." Styles said this sincerely as he threw his fist into the man's gut, the spikes on his gloves forcing his hand all the way through the man's abdomen and out of his back. He coughed up an unholy amount of blood before going limp on a grinning Styles' fist.

Styles threw him off his arm and turned to advance on his other enemy, only to see a hastily retreating back running as fast as his legs would carry him. Nina was giving chase, but the man was clever, and managed to throw her off. Styles began to give chase, encountering Kimi and Blue along the way and picking them up.

The hunt was on.

* * *

"If she's not your girlfriend, does that mean that she's single?" Ryder sat back on his hands. He was currently sat across a campfire from Ryusuke, who was now glaring daggers at him. They were sat in an innocent woodland clearing, minus Ryo and Rhea, who had vacated to gather firewood.

"Yes." Ryusuke's tone was pointed, and he was still glaring at Ryder, who seemed not to care, still licking a lollipop with a bored expression upon his face.

"Why the animosity?"

"Because fuck you."

"Sorry, I don't swing that way."

"Yeah, I suppose self-fucking is a dying art, teenage boys everywhere will be so disappointed."

"You're a teenager."

"And I share the disappointment."

"You like her, don't you?"

"Piss off."

"Interesting, no denial."

"Again, piss off." Ryusuke sighed. He didn't like conversation normally, but his hatred for this particular one held a special place in his heart.

"I watched you, you know. You'd do anything for people you care about, but especially her. Every time you look at her, it's like this whole antisocial, indifferent act melts away. Shame, it'd be pretty convincing otherwise."

Ryusuke sighed. He hated clever people sometimes. "That proves nothing."

"Alright, keep lying to yourself, makes no difference to me. Just trying to help the guy who helped me realise that you love her."

"Who loves who?" Rhea announced her arrival by throwing a huge pile of firewood onto the ground in front of her.

"Misery loves company, so sit down and join in me in the misery of Ryusuke's presence," said Ryder.

Rhea, meanwhile, made a sideways glance to Ryusuke and smirked. "So, how close are we?"

"Pretty close," said Ryder. "Probably no more than an hour, probably less. I dunno, I was running for my life last time, took us about ten minutes to get here." His face then turned down, his expression suddenly pained and melancholy.

"This is where they caught her, isn't it?" Rhea's tone was one of sympathy.

"Yeah."

"If she's alive, we'll get her back, don't worry."

Ryder managed to give her a small smile. "Thanks, really. You guys don't even know me and you're still doing this for me."

With a small giggle, Rhea grinned. "You're a member of Angel's Breath, of course we're going to help you. Even Misery over there will never turn away a guildmate in need!"

Ryusuke merely gave a small 'hmph' before throwing more wood on the fire.

"Did you even need me to go out? Rhea brought back enough to burn for a week." Ryo threw his comparatively pitiful pile of firewood onto Rhea's and took a seat.

"You were talking too much," said Ryusuke.

"I barely said a word," Ryo protested.

"In an ideal world, all would be silent."

"Really?" said Ryder, "because I can think of a few things you'd love to say."

Ryusuke just glared before standing up and turning away. "I'm going to bed."

"I'll join you," said Rhea, punctuating her words with a yawn. Meanwhile, Ryusuke was putting forth all the effort he could muster to hide the now changed colour of his cheeks at her choice of words.

* * *

Silence. It can be beautiful, but it can equally be dangerous. Such a still silence as was prevalent in the night was the kind of silence that could only preclude danger. The millions of tiny silences of a sleeping city all merged into one serene whole, a jigsaw of sound, or rather lack of it, in the night. But that silence, the serene, peaceful silence that can only come from a mass of slumbering bodies was blanketed by another. One that was fearful. Doors were not just locked, they were bolted, often twice, sometimes three times. But deep in their hearts, people knew that wouldn't help. It hadn't thus far, after all.

Stars shone, but their light was dulled inside the city. Buildings were in the way, but it was as if something else was drawing the light from the area, snuffing out the light of the stars themselves. A billion suns, drained dry by the evil at the heart of a mystery. The silence. Silence that not only blanketed all, but seemed to be so thick, so palpable, that it was blocking the stars from shining through. Even the moon seemed dull, shining grey rather than silver, its once revered luminescence now just an evanescence, with all the fuel it once had burned, now just showing an afterglow.

Indeed, it was not a nice night. Tension filled the air of Hargeon, and Cyrus was very aware of it. People still slept, despite the danger they knew was present, because they had to. The human body cannot function, after all, without sleep. Perhaps security was too lax, even with the vast increase in police presence, but it was doubtful that any amount of security could stop what was happening. The perpetrators were simply too clever. The magic council had come, and they had hidden. The magic council had left, and they had arisen. Their short absence had been akin to a slumber, and they seemed to have woken up recharged. They were attacking with new vigour, and Cyrus had twice seen shifty looking men bolt from high on buildings when he had spotted them.

Annoyingly, he had yet to catch any of them. They had all been too fast and too sneaky and had escaped his clutches, and he couldn't just use his magic wantonly, lest he destroy someone's house. He had to be careful, and he didn't like that too much, since it had twice now prevented him from gathering any leads. Still, he had been right. Patrolling the city at night was a much more likely prospect to deliver results, it seemed. Screw the danger, he wanted to get to the bottom of this and deliver justice to the people who had dared harm his friend. Stupid Dean, he'd thought it was too dangerous, but no-one attacked Cyrus. They simply ran from him. Perhaps they had not the strength to take any who were awake and alert.

A scream. A young girl, perhaps. A child, definitely. It was close, too, close enough to be reached quickly, at least, with the straightforward layout of the city. He silently thanked the architects as he set off at a sprint. He was quickly on the scene, seeing a man dressed as Florence's assailant had been running away, screaming coming from a child left in the street. Cyrus ignored the child, since her screaming would have woken up half the street by now, and set off after the kidnapper.

"I'm not letting you get away!" Cyrus ran as fast as he could, managing to keep the distance between them the same, but gaining none. He worked his legs as hard as he could, but the man he chased was quick. Almost too quick, as a matter of fact, but Cyrus was determined, and therefore would not flag. The chase ran in zigzags, cutting through back alleys and even people's gardens, but Cyrus never once slowed his pursuit.

It was as they left a garden that Cyrus realised his target knew he was being pursued, clued in by the smorgasbord of debris sent flying behind the kidnapper, right in Cyrus' path. He tripped over a bin and stumbled, but refused to give up as long as his quarry was in sight, and they were running down a very straight road. However, the man ducked a left very quickly, almost so quickly that Cyrus ran past his destination. Instead, Cyrus skidded to a halt, losing his footing and landing unceremoniously on his face.

"Dammit," he said as he got to his feet and dusted himself off. "That was embarrassing. Least no-one saw." He levelled his eyes on the structure in front of him. It was old, empty, abandoned. A disused warehouse, perhaps. Or maybe the headquarters of nefarious deeds.

"Abandoned warehouse at night? Screw it."

There was only one way to find out.

* * *

"That goddamn idiot, I told him not to go out." Dean was pacing up and down in his room, Florence currently seated on the bed, growling.

"If he's gone and got himself killed, I'll end him."

"Doesn't even have the good grace to flare up his magic or something when he got in trouble. Honestly, he needs to get his head on straight."

"How do we even go about finding him? It's not like he left a trail of breadcrumbs or something."

Dean suddenly adopted a thoughtful expression. "Breadcrumbs… hmm…"

"What are you thinking?"

"A trail of breadcrumbs."

Lights turned on in Florence's brain. "His magical signature!"

"Yeah. It'll be faint, but it's all we've got."

And so, they left, attempting to sniff out Cyrus' magical signature, faded from the night. They could feel nothing, and so they decided to walk around and see if anything changed. Happily, this garnered results, since they heard someone talking about a pierced boy with long, dark hair chasing after a man they assumed to be one of the kidnappers.

"Did you see where they went?" asked Dean.

"Down there," replied a man, around forty, pointing down a long, straight street.

"Thanks. Florence, come on."

Their search, which they had expected to be long and arduous, instead clocked in at under an hour, including the walk down the long, straight street, which led them to where they now stood, managing to feel a hint of Cyrus' presence in the exact spot they were standing, most likely residue from his own standing there the night before.

"Did he really go into an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the night?" said Florence, her face aghast. "Who does that?"

"Cyrus, clearly," said Dean. "We should probably go in."

"It looks really creepy."

"Really? Because I saw a candy house filled with sunshine and fucking butterflies."

Florence growled. "Shut the hell up."

"Of course it's creepy, now suck it up and come in so we can find Cyrus and kick his ass."

* * *

"You sure this is a good idea?"

"Best one we've had." Ryusuke and Rhea were currently on a road, heading into a small town. The plan was for them to pose as weary, non-magical travellers who were passing through the town and wanted to rest for a few days. They'd use this time to gather information on the place, and perhaps scope out the location of Ryder's mother.

"I get that we need to find out where she is, but is being here so long really necessary?"

"Forewarned is forearmed. We'll stay as long as we need to."

Rhea gave him a wry smirk. "You know I outrank you, right? Because it sounds like you're trying to order me around."

He sighed. "You wanna leave, be my guest."

"I'm hurt!" she said in mock affront.

"Then suffer in silence, we're here."

They took in the image of the town. It was small, to be sure, but still big enough for a decent population to thrive there. It was flanked by farmland, with crops and grazing cattle all clearly visible around the outskirts. The architecture was simple, and rustic, with stone walls and clay roofs, not a lick of paint or plaster or slate in sight. The layout was interesting, each main road acting something like a spoke on a wheel, all leading to something clearly important in the centre of the town. It was small, yes, but seemed bigger due to the small size of the buildings, and thus the increased amount of them. Well, most of them. After a small amount of walking, they came across a larger building that looked like an inn. It seemed to be open for business, so they went in.

"Morning!" shouted the barman. "What can I do for you?" The room was large, with tables everywhere, some large, some small. The bar was long and took up the entire back wall of the room, also barring access to a stairwell which, they assumed, led to the rooms.

"You got any rooms free?" said Ryusuke.

"Yeah, just the one though. That okay?"

"Fine. How much?"

"Five hundred a night."

Ryusuke produced a small sheaf of bills, placing them before the man.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's with the sword?"

"Protection," he said. "The roads aren't very safe."

"I can attest to that," the barman replied. "You want something to drink?"

"Yeah, a beer please."

"And your lady friend?"

"Just water, please," said Rhea.

The drinks were served, and silence settled. Information gathering was a delicate thing, and this man, though he seemed friendly enough, might be unreceptive. In reality, they needed more targets and a room to work around. How fortunate, then, that a lunch crowd seemed to start gathering as soon as the thought entered Ryusuke's mind. With this in mind, he let the crowd lose sobriety before he began.

"You know, I heard magic isn't allowed here. That true?"

"Why?" said the barman. "You one of them?"

"No, just curious."

Rhea smiled her brilliant smile at the man. "You know, I'd actually like to know as well."

The man simply shrugged before replying. "Yeah, and it got a couple of folk in trouble a few days back. Shame, too, she was a good woman and he was a good kid, but rules are rules. Don't tell anyone, but I'm kind of glad the kid got away, he's just a kid, after all."

"I'm not!" came a voice from down the bar. "Good riddance to them! Mages are nothing but damn trouble! Makes me glad that woman's getting executed tomorrow."

Ryusuke and Rhea stiffened before turning to see a man, around thirty, bearded and with short, brown hair. He was dressed in worker's clothes, covered in dust. "Did you say tomorrow?" asked Rhea.

"Yeah, but what does it matter? Like I said, mages are nothing but trouble!"

"You wouldn't be saying that is you needed their help," said Rhea, venom lacing her tone.

"But we don't need their help. What, you one of them or something?"

"No, but I think that killing someone just for being able to use magic is despicable."

"Think what you want, it's what happens. And I agree with it."

"Well," she said, "I guess dirt can take human form, after all."

The man was visibly annoyed by this. "What'd you just say to me?"

"Whoa!" said the barman. "No fighting in here, now both of you, cool it!"

Rhea turned and smiled. "Sorry about that, sir."

"Smooth," whispered Ryusuke, to be answered only by a slap to the back of his head.

Without warning, the doors burst open, and three dangerous looking men walked in, striding slowly towards the bar. "Here's the deal: we're mages, and we know magic isn't allowed here, so you're powerless to resist. Now hand over everything valuable and no-one gets hurt."

His two allies spread out to cover the room and stop an escape, whilst the man at the bar turned his head to see Rhea next to him, stood stock still. "Well, now, hello there, honey. You're quite beautiful, you know that?"

Rhea said nothing.

"I'm sure life in this town isn't very good to you, so why don't you come join me and my boys when we blow this joint?"

Rhea said nothing.

"You know, it's rude to ignore someone when they're talking to you, gorgeous." Then he did the unthinkable. An action that anyone with any wits left would know was unacceptable. He grabbed her breast.

She let out a small gasp, shock and affront prevalent within her. This quickly gave way to anger, and she was about ready to teach him a lesson. Unfortunately for this man, or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint, he had situated himself in-between Ryusuke and Rhea. Even as silence filled the room as the man's actions were noticed, it was invaded by the slow scraping of a sword being unsheathed. Without even looking at him, Ryusuke had levelled it on the man's neck.

"Leave or die."

He took a step away from Rhea. "Is that a challenge? What can a maggot like you do to three powerful mages?" He began laughing. "Playing hero, are we boy? I think we'll have to teach you a lesson!"

"Twilight Spark." Ryusuke held up his palm, and the conical attack shot out, enveloping the man. He was blown back, impacting into the far wall, bruised and charred, as well as completely unconscious. "Obviously not that powerful."

"Gale Rocket." In a flash, Rhea had come face to face with the other two and knocked them unconscious with swift strikes. She walked back over to Ryusuke, who was still focused on his drink. She, however, surveyed the room, and the looks of shock on the faces of all present. "Uh, Ryu-kun?"

He turned, and saw what she saw. "Whoops."

A voice rang out. "Police! Someone call the police!"

Ryusuke stood and grabbed Rhea's hand. "My, aren't you bold?" she said, smirking.

"Shut up. Time to go." And with that, they ran.

The hadn't run far before they caught the attention of a police officer, who quickly signalled more, and soon it felt as if a small army was chasing them. They ducked down back streets, but never lost them all. They turned into a dark, narrow alleyway, but quickly came upon a dead end.

"Shit," said Ryusuke, "we blew it."

"This way!" came a voice, close, perhaps just one turn away now.

"They're gonna see us," said Ryusuke.

"But they won't notice us," Rhea said. Ryusuke wondered for a second what she meant, and then he found out.

She kissed him. It was deep, and passionate, and he felt almost lost. He closed his eyes and simply sank into her, feeling as if he was floating on a cloud, absolutely weightless and in a state of unending bliss. It was dryer than he would have expected, but he didn't mind. This was ecstasy, true heaven, and he was sharing it with an angel. Then, just as abruptly as it had begun, it ended. Ryusuke looked at Rhea, dumbfounded. "W-what the…"

"Who expects people running away to stop at a dead end and start making out?"

"Oh." He tried hard to hide his disappointment. Really, could it have been anything else?

Rhea, meanwhile, smirked. "You sound disappointed."

"Oh, um, well-"

"It's not a great place for a first kiss," she leaned close to him and whispered in his ear, "but we can always make up for it later."

He shivered feeling her warm breath in his ear before he registered what she'd said. "Wait, really?"

She flashed him that beautiful smile once more. "Yeah, but now's not the time. So let's go."

* * *

AN: Yeah, so that happened. I was gonna drag the romance out a lot longer before I realised that their personalities and my pacing made that a stupid idea. I just hope it was realistic, because like Ryusuke (pretty sure she gave you enough hints!) I suck at romance. Anyway, I was quite happy with this one, and the words just flowed onto the page. This is the quickest 4000 words I've ever written, took me about 3 hours. Anyway, if you have a comment, criticism, praise or other, please leave a review and as always, I will do my utmost to respond to you all. Until next time (whenever that is), folks.


	27. Seek and Destroy

AN: A new chapter is here, and I hope you all enjoy it.

~AB~

_Running, on our way. Hiding, you will pay._

~AB~

**Seek and Destroy**

Light. So wonderful, and yet so damning. Illuminating the dark, and yet too much would blind you. Indeed, light had two sides, bot helpful and dangerous at the same time. The early afternoon sun beating down was both a blessing and a curse, in a way. Yes, it would illuminate the dark for them, but the same could be said for any enemies they may face, and they were fully visible. However, the light was able to reassure them. In the dark, they could not see any dangers that may be lurking. However, with the sun beating down, this wasn't an issue. Why, then, did it feel as if they were walking through a pitch-black void?

The aura of the place was simply darkness. It was as if shadow leaked from every crack, every crevice, permeating the beautiful light that had heralded the coming of the sun and snuffing it out almost completely, at least in their minds. Crawling through the darkness like babes in the wilderness, their eyes wide and seeing all clearly illuminated in the afternoon light. The shadows that permeated the light seemed also to permeate the world itself, corrupting all with the caress of its snaking tendrils.

Still, they were not to be deterred. The aura of evil was nothing to them, something they had encountered and defeated several times in the past. Now, any fear they may have felt was quashed by the need for greater things, greater things thought beyond themselves. Be it admirable courage, or simple fearlessness, it didn't matter. Their determination saw that no matter what, they would cross the threshold.

It was then that shadows overtook them.

As they crossed the threshold, slipping through the door, all light was extinguished. Even with the door open, nothing. It was almost as if they had stepped through an invisible barrier, a haze of darkness that would destroy even the brightest of light that tried to cross it.

It was dark, and they were alone.

However, the human body is a wonderful thing, especially the eyes. When light is taken away, it is absolute darkness, since the pupils are narrowed enough that the amount of light taken in would not damage the eye. Now, though, in the pitch-darkness, their pupils widened, allowing the meagre amount of light set within to reflect into their eyes and be picked up. After a couple of minutes, they realised that what they were standing in was nothing like a warehouse. Warehouses tended to be large, open plan spaces, and what they were stood in was a hallway. At a loss, they decided to simply walk down it and throw doors open.

They found nothing.

Naught but tables and chairs and desks and sheaves of paper and many files, and rooms actually lit by lamps. They found scientific equipment and experiments in progress, but they still did not find what they were looking for. Optimism and hope, however, still remained, as they could still feel that magical signature, stronger than it had felt outside. As a matter of fact, at one point it felt as if he was directly below them, but that could not be. So they thought, anyway, until they found something that could have led to what they were looking for. Without a word to each other, Florence and Dean descended the stairwell with caution, minds racing with possibilities of what might occur, and what may have already occurred.

~AB~

In another part of the country, a location far more rural, the afternoon sun beat down on the backs of a trio of people and a wolf. They were stood in front of a roaring waterfall, the sound of the rushing torrent almost deafening, the spray soaking them to the bones already, having only been stood there for a short time. Nina shook the water from herself, soaking Styles even more, but it wasn't helpful, as the spray quickly made her wet again. Blue narrowed her eyes staring at the gushing water beating down onto the rocks below. There were sparse clusters of trees around them, unhelpful in shielding the formation from the world. Instead, the remoteness of the location hid them from all prying eyes, being that there weren't really any prying eyes out there.

Indeed, the place was a long way from anywhere, and it had taken them two hours of solid walking, sometimes running, to reach it. But this was where the trail ended. A good place to hide, for sure, but so far from the location of their attacks? It was a mixture of undeniable genius and obfuscating stupidity. And since the trail ran cold there, it was safe to assume that somewhere around the area was the group they had been sent to stop.

"Are you sure this is it?" said Blue.

Styles shrugged. "Nina can't catch the guy's scent any further, so it has to be, unless they bathed before moving on, which seems unlikely. The pressure of that waterfall could kill a human."

"If they're hiding around here, then there has to be some kind of sign," said Kimi.

"There probably is," said Blue. "But we haven't found it, have we?"

Styles narrowed his eyes. "Maybe we have."

"What do you mean?" Kimi asked.

"Look closely." Kimi complied with her brother's demand, and saw something very strange indeed. Near the falls was an alcove in the rock formation, and moreover, through the torrent, there could be seen not rock, but darkness. The dark void that is indicative of an unlit cavern, for sure.

"I see it," said Blue. "But how do we get in?"

"Same way they do, I guess."

"It doesn't help that we don't know how they get in," said Kimi, sighing. However, without warning, Nina took off in a run and leaped through the waterfall into the cavern behind it. "That's one way, I suppose."

Wordlessly, Styles followed suit and jumped into the small lake gathered at the bottom, submerging himself and quickly vanishing from sight. With a shrug, Blue followed, Kimi soon after.

They had not been prepared for the feeling.

Either the falls were just that strong, or they hadn't dived deep enough. Whatever the case, when they passed underneath, the sudden beating on their backs was nearly too much to handle. The pressure drove them down and made forward movement an impossibility and suddenly, the possibility of drowning became very real. Dying, there, in the dark, without even a way to scream.

Absolute terror. Blue had never faced this kind of terror in their short life, and they decided they never wanted to again. It churned their gut, almost turning them inside out, lungs filling with water as they tried to scream out. Instead, just a gargle came, and water flooded in. Still the pressure forced Blue ever downwards into the depths, the depths of terror and utter despair, hopelessness invading them even as the water did so. Terror permeated Blue's very being now, not a single part of them feeling anything else. The cold? Forgotten. The pressure? Forgotten. The burning of their lungs? Forgotten. Instead, only fear.

And fear was the last thing Blue felt as darkness overtook their being.

~AB~

"That was quick." Ryo was sat with Ryder at the remains of the previous night's fire, simply lounging. He looked over Ryusuke and Rhea, doubled over and panting, concern etched on his face.

"A few days? Are days the same as hours where you come from or am I missing something?" said Ryder.

"We got ran out of town," said Ryusuke.

"Then why do you have a shit-eating grin on your face?" Ryder was perplexed, because Ryusuke was indeed grinning as if he had been touched by an angel and plunged into the world's greatest ecstasy.

"Managed to get some info," he replied. Rhea, meanwhile, had to fight her laughter. He needed to be glad these people didn't realise how obvious the bullshit was, she thought.

"That's out of character," said Ryder, "but go on."

"Your mom's still alive," said Rhea. "And she will be until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Ryder was almost panicking. "How can we save her?"

"I managed to get something while we were running," said Ryusuke.

"How?" asked Ryo, genuinely curious. In his experience, pursuers weren't generally interested in answering their quarry's questions.

"Well…"

_An idea hit him. They were both still running for their lives, pursued as gazelle by a mighty lion. However, with them, it was like two lions running from a pack of gazelle, but they couldn't really go busting the town apart. They could, however, be clever about it before they got out of there. With this in mind, Ryusuke turned to his partner in escape._

"_I have an idea, keep running. I'll catch up."_

_She nodded, and continued even as he skidded to a halt. All she could do here was trust him, and trust him she did, so she paid it no mind. Ryusuke, meanwhile, was confronted by a veritable mob of police, and he simply smiled at them._

"_Hello, good sirs. I have stopped and realised the error of my ways and so would like to turn myself in. Before that, where would you be taking me once I am handcuffed?"_

"_The jailhouse, obviously!" said one of them._

"_Ah, but where is that?" asked Ryusuke. "I need to steel myself for the distance of the walk, having travelled so far and run so much today, I'm rather weary."_

"_The centre of town, not that I care about your tiredness. Now, let's go. You're going on the chopping block!"_

_Ryusuke just smirked. "Not today. Shadow Sneak." And with that, he disappeared from sight._

A bead of sweat dropped down the back of Ryder's head. "You know I could have led you there, right?"

"I do now," said Ryusuke.

Rhea burst out laughing. "Oh my god, you moron!"

"Hey, it left them in our dust, at least." Ryusuke was now griping, obviously unhappy with his own lack of foresight and Rhea's mocking. Rhea sidled up beside him and put an arm over his shoulder, grinning all the while.

"And that was a happy accident."

"All part of my plan."

"Of course it was."

"Back to the matter at hand," said Ryo, "we have a man's mother to save. Since you two have blown your cover, how do you propose we go about it?"

"Walk in, run over anyone in the way, break into the jailhouse, grab Ryder's mom, walk out." Rhea shrugged as she spoke, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Will it not cause problems if we announce our arrival with magic?" asked Ryo.

"Not if we get to the jailhouse quick enough," said Ryusuke.

"Yeah, and it's not like we plan on going back for anything, so we don't need to worry about pissing off the locals. Or roughing them up," added Rhea.

With the plan, if it could be called that, agreed upon, the quartet of Angel's Breath mages set off immediately. Since they had no time to waste, they made haste, it taking less than an hour to reach the town. Their walk was uneventful, but it was guaranteed that once they entered, things would be far from simple.

~AB~

Blue awoke, surprised that they were not dead. They were, however, soaked through, and shivering violently. They looked over their surroundings. It was a dark cavern, lit further in by burning torches. The rock formation looked smooth and almost manmade, and Styles and Kimi sat a little ways away, Nina by Styles' side.

"You alright?" said Styles.

"Yes," spat Blue. "Why do you care?"

"Because I don't want you to die."

Blue was actually touched by this. Never before in their life had a human shown genuine concern for them, and cared about them. Every human in their life had been either burdened with them or simply been using them for their own ends. Blue had, since they had been the last survivor, had no-one, and such a concept as being cared for was an almost alien concept to the homunculus. They recovered from this quickly, however, and simply favoured Styles with a small smile.

"Now let's go," said Styles. "We have humans to slaughter."

And go they went, further into the deep cavern. There was no way to escape the shadows, despite the torchlight, and they had to make do with fumbling their way through the dim formation and hoping they would find something. But then something happened. Nina perked up her head and wagged her tail, turning to Styles.

"We're going the right way," he said. They continued their short walk until the tunnel opened out into a wide space, barren of most decoration and bathed in torchlight. However, despite the lack of decoration, there was furniture. A single, simple throne in the centre of the space. What's more, there was a man sat on the throne. A man of around thirty-five, very tall and heavily built. He was completely bald and dressed in battle worn chain mail over a bare chest and brown pants. Around him were several men, these men not dressed as ninjas, but simply in plain clothes, many of them bare-chested.

"Hey, that's the guy from last night!" One of the men shouted out, pointing at Styles. The light hubbub of conversation was silenced as the hulking man sat on the throne looked over to them.

"Well, well," he said, his deep voice booming in echo. "It seems some rats have scurried in. I do hope you have come to apologise for disrupting my operations."

"I'm very sorry, sir," said Styles sincerely. "I'm sorry that I didn't kill your other friend, and that it took us so long to find you, and that you're still alive right now."

He looked aggravated at this. "Watch your mouth, boy! You are speaking to the great warlord, Daitaro, and that village is just the first territory of my new domain. Soon enough, I will be able to invade and take it over, from there, bleed into the rest of Fiore and take over! So you see, you are talking to your future emperor! Show some respect."

Styles yawned. "Sorry, I fell asleep halfway through that boring speech. I'd have no problem if you'd chosen to just kill the humans, but you didn't, you killed the animals too."

"And that," said Kimi.

"Will not be forgiven," finished Blue.

Daitaro chuckled. "And you, three puny children, will stop me, I assume? I'm guessing you're from a guild, so I'll have to warn you that the last guild to try and stop me ended up dead. I believe their bodies are still decomposing at the bottom of that lake."

"We aren't like other guilds," said Styles. "As much as I hate to admit it, every human in my guild is good, and all of us are strong."

"You'd be wise not to underestimate us," said Kimi.

Daitaro sighed. "Very well. Gravity Domain."

Without warning, a sudden pressure was upon them, far greater than in the waterfall, enough to bring all three down to their hands and knees with ease, all of them even struggling to stay in this position.

"My Domain Magic can affect conditions in any area I choose. This is my Gravity Domain spell, and as you can tell, it affects gravity. Soon enough, you'll all be crushed and I will continue unopposed."

However, he was surprised when something that should have, by all rights, been impossible happened. Blue, with the greatest effort of their life, lifted their hands off the floor and managed to kneel up. Then, with a great heave, they lifted a leg and managed to plant a foot solidly on the ground. With another great heave, they lifted the other and slowly stood, sweat dripping down their already wet forehead as they took deliberate, laborious steps forward.

"Interesting. I have never met one with enough will to resist that much gravity," said Daitaro.

Blue grit their teeth and continued, finally leaving the area of the spell, but walking straight into a group of around thirty men.

"Dispose of her."

"I'll have you know that I am not a woman. Nor am I human, you scum. And I am glad, because that would make me dirt like you, and that would destroy me."

Daitaro let out a large, booming laugh. "Just kill it, whatever it happens to be. Then cut off its head and send it back to its guild."

Styles growled, slowly forcing himself to his feet. Kimi did the same, and soon, both were also on their feet, weapons in hand.

"You have to deal with us too, you disgusting humans," said Styles.

"And we're not going to show you mercy," said Kimi.

"And they all stand!" said Daitaro. "Marvellous! Were it so easy, it would be no fun. Alas, I'm sure I need not trouble myself. Air Domain."

Styles and Kimi instantly began clutching at their throats. No. Impossible. He could manipulate the air? Possible or not, now, there was no oxygen for them to breathe, and without that, they would rapidly suffocate. Fear took hold. Their lungs burned. They tried desperately to breathe, but they couldn't. In that space, it was impossible. In fact, they felt as if their heads were about to explode, rapidly reaching breaking point.

"Do you like this spell?" Daitaro chuckled. "It creates a vacuum around you. You'll die a painful death soon enough, don't you worry about that."

Blue growled, and some of the men charged. Blue, however, simply manipulated the magic around themself and it exploded. Daitaro looked on with amusement, at least until Blue jumped from the explosion, their fist coated with pure magic. His amusement was weathered away completely when Blue punched him across the cheek, the magic exploding on impact.

Sweet relief. Air flooded their lungs and Styles gained a psychotic grin. He could breathe again, and it was feeding time. Kimi's expression, meanwhile, was serious. She was about to make them pay.

Blue glared at Daitaro. "People like you confirm to me just how awful humanity is. At least, that's what I used to think. Every human is simply a sum of their flaws, but now I know that despite their rarity, good humans exist. And for them, I will commit you to the grave in the most painful way possible!"

Styles and Kimi rushed into the crowd of men who were about to rush Blue, hacking and slashing away, Styles shoving a fist through yet another man's chest.

"Blue!" called Styles. "Paint the walls with his guts."

Blue gave a cruel smirk. "That was the plan."

"Gravity Domain!" Daitaro waved his hand, but Blue remained standing. They continued smirking, ready to unleash all the anger that had gathered at the man and his actions thus far.

"For it is through Death that we come to defeat Life. For it is through Darkness that we seek freedom from Light."

"I will not be defeated!"

"The essence of our Universe is eternal. It is undying. It is unyielding."

"Feel my ultimate spell! Life Domain!" It was as if the very light itself was leeched from the area around Blue. In fact, it was as if the light had simply died. Walls of darkness enclosed Blue, who still, despite their situation, continued to smirk.

"For blood is thicker than water. For combat is more lasting than peace, and truth is the antithesis of ecstasy!" An explosion. The walls of darkness, Daitaro's domain, were blown apart. Daitaro looked on in shock as Blue pointed a palm at him, their smirk having evolved into a sadistic grin.

Blood exploded, a fountain of crimson painting the walls of the cavern. Magic spears had pierced him anywhere and everywhere but vital spots, and cut through his throne to the point it crumbled away, Daitaro slumping to the floor. Blue walked towards him slowly and purposefully, still grinning a sadistic grin even as the spears dissipated, leaving the man gasping for breath, bleeding out. When Blue reached him, they stamped their heel down into one of Daitaro's larger wounds, causing an ear-splitting scream to erupt from the man.

"That's right, filth. Scream." Blue tortured the man for a further few seconds before walking away to see Kimi and Styles finished with the men, seeming to have had no trouble dispatching them whatsoever.

The carnage was spectacular, body parts sent flying and strewn all about the place, men lying with gaping holes in their bodies, some even missing heads. Indeed, it was as if a monster had ripped through them all, killing them in painful ways simply to amuse itself. But no monster had passed through here, simply Styles, Kimi and Blue. Their retribution, sadistic and bloody though it may have been. Indeed, blood and guts painted the floors, the smell strong enough to force a retch from other people, but not these ones.

"When you said this guild was full of good humans," said Blue, "did you mean it?"

"Yeah," replied Styles, his face again an emotionless mask.

"There isn't one of them I wouldn't trust with my life," said Kimi.

"I find that hard to believe, but thank you." Blue turned and smiled at the two. Could this be, perhaps, the forging of a beautiful, if very unlikely, friendship?

Only time will tell.

~AB~

AN: That felt like a good place to cut it, so I did. Anyway, good, bad, average? If you have a comment, praise, criticism or other, please don't hesitate to leave a review and I will, as always, do my best to respond to each one in a timely fashion. One mission has now ended, and two are right in a middle of things, so I wonder what will happen next. Who knows, Ryusuke could turn into a unicorn, gore the entire town with his horn and carry everyone into the sunset in glorious victory.

Onto a new section, commenting on the manga because why the fuck not. Those Avatar guys seem weak, or maybe Natsu's just gotten uber strong. I mean, we all saw what he did to Bluenote. Hopefully Gray hasn't been nerfed and will actually give Natsu a good fight, though we all know that plot demands Gajeel get involved at some point. Three-way battle? I can't see Natsu and Gajeel working together.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, so until next time, folks.


	28. Notice of Discontinuation

So this has been dead for a while, huh?

Well, I lost my motivation to carry on, pretty much, since I could do it better and I lost all my files, including all the wonderful OCs you guys sent me! It threw me for a loop a bit, since I was planning on returning to this after finishing my Yugioh fic, but hey, shit happens and life goes on. All there is to do is not be an idiot and actually back up my files this time.

Anyway, this is just a notice of discontinuation, which I realise is against the rules, but some of you most likely don't have me on author alert, and I've decided to reboot the story. The first chapter is up now, and I'm accepting OCs, so all is not lost. I'm also much more confident with my ability now, and I know exactly where the story is gonna go, which is always a plus.

Anyway, if you're still interested then go read that and submit an OC. Sorry for giving up on this if you were really enjoying it, but I plan on making the new one even better.


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